22-Year Army Veteran Becomes First Honoree in New National ’50 Heroes, 50 States’ Campaign

Retired U.S. Army Sgt. Maj. Mary L. Autrey of Indianapolis, Indiana, never imagined she would receive a national honor for volunteering out of the goodness of her heart.

She’s the first “Hero” in the HeroByApp™ Community Heroes Program, established to celebrate veterans, first responders, teachers and everyday change makers who are considered unsung heroes in communities across the country.

For Autrey, her work has been a natural next step after her distinguished military career.

“I am just so excited about this. I mean, it is just amazing,” Autrey said in an interview with Military.com. “This is the first award that’s been given by the HeroByApp, and I’m the first one to receive it in Indiana, the first in the country to receive it. Wow, it’s just incredible.”

Civic Publishing Platform Highlights Trusted Organizations

HeroByApp™ is the recognition program of the CityByApp™, a growing civic platform where local agencies, businesses, nonprofits and community organizations can become verified, post their profile and publish trusted local information, events and other tools to better their lives. HeroByApp is honoring one community hero in each of the 50 U.S. states each year, as part of its “50 Heroes, 50 States” campaign.

Autrey’s recognition comes with a “Certificate of Honor”, 15 “Virtual Keys” to local organizations she supports, and the listings of 20 other organizations that are being recognized with her, all connected to the CityByApp™, which touts itself as America’s verified civic publishing platform.

“We didn’t just hand Mary a certificate. We built her a verified digital footprint, a permanent, source-traceable record of a lifetime of service, gathered in one trusted place,” Jerome Mark Mikulich, Founder & CEO of CityByApp™, said in a statement to Military.com. “We researched and verified her record, her decades in uniform and the many veterans, women’s leadership, and community organizations she has led and served. Her resume of achievement is published as a living, verified page anyone can trace.”

Mikulich has nothing but praise for Autrey and her work, saying she embodies the kind of hero the “HeroByApp” seeks to recognize.

“Her footprint reaches outward in circles, her neighborhood, her city, her state, and through Indianapolis’s international sister cities, the world,” Mikulich said. “Her recognition is a local honor with a global impact. It opens a verified place where every town, agency, nonprofit, veterans group, and business she supports can claim a verified footprint of their own and publish real local information residents can trust, at no cost. One veteran’s record becomes the seed.”

For Autrey, the connections are real. She was nominated for the honor by the CEO and founder of the Global Society for Female Entrepreneurs in California, another organization where Autrey has made a connection.

I love people. I love helping people and educating people about community groups and organizations that I work with and that are making a difference. It’s what I do. I learn so much by volunteering and giving back, especially to veterans, because I am a veteran.

Tireless Volunteerism After Distinguished Military Service

Autrey is a 22-year Army veteran who reveals she’s in her 70s, with military service that spans the Vietnam War and Operation Desert Storm eras. She’s also a 2022 inductee of the Indiana Military Veterans Hall of Fame, where her service to the country is preserved in the Veterans History Project of the Library of Congress.

Currently, Autrey serves as Chaplain at American Legion Women’s Post 438 and remains active with AMVETS Post 99, the Sister Soldier Network, as well as Helping Veterans and Families of Indiana. She has spent the decades since her service caring for other veterans and their families.

“I’ve been with some of these organizations since before I actually retired,” she said. “One organization that’s near and dear to me is the homeless veterans assistance program here in Indianapolis. We find these fellow veterans a place to live and a helping hand to get back on their feet. We’ve been able to go out and provide meals to veterans in their later years. We also provide clothing and hygiene items to them as well.”

Autrey’s official recognition ceremony is Wednesday, July 29, 2026, at the Julia Carson Government Center in Indianapolis, with her husband, stepdaughter and some of her five grandchildren cheering the honor she’ll receive for her tireless volunteer work.

“It’s amazing to see the fruits of my labor, so to speak,” Autrey said. “When I mentor young people, or other veterans, I get as much as I give. It’s so rewarding.”