Veterans of AC is a student activities club that encourages veterans at Amarillo College to participate.
“We need participation, or the club is not going to make it. If it does not make it this semester, then we probably will not keep it going,” said Kelly Murphy, a VA and graduation specialist in the registrar’s office and founder of the club.
Murphy said anybody can participate in the club, but only veterans can be voting members. Their constitution can soon change so that students, whose parents are veterans, can become more involved. Murphy urges students to keep an eye out for meeting dates and times, because the meeting times are also subject to change at a time that is convenient to members.
Like other clubs at Amarillo College, the Veterans of AC hosts fundraisers. The club raises money to help veterans pay for their books, and to put toward scholarships for them and their dependents. “Even their spouses are eligible,” Murphy said.
The club will soon be having a fundraiser. Proceeds will go toward the Patricia Bedoy fund, widow of our fallen hero, Pvt. First Class Genaro Bedoy.
There are currently over three hundred veterans enrolled at Amarillo College.
Adam Guzman, a mechanical engineering major, served three tours in Iraq during his eight-year service in the Army. He worked as a tank mechanic. Guzman said the club is good for networking with other veterans. “I like it a lot. I’ve made a lot of friends here,” said Guzman.
The first Veterans of AC club was founded in 1946. Murphy and Joe Gandy brought it back four years ago. Murphy asks all veterans to join. Her office is located in the student services center, behind the registrar’s office.
Veterans of AC also participate in the Veterans Day parade. They have won several awards for their float, said Norman Bearden, a social work major. “The last two years we won top award.” Bearden said he served twenty-three years in the navy and worked as a submarine sonar technician while he served. He has been a member of the club since it started four years ago.
“Some veterans have wounds that are not seen,” Bearden said.
Leave a Reply