The Spirit of 75: As It Marks a Milestone Anniversary, Legion Post Still Has Its Comrades’ Backs
This is a birthday that goes beyond party hats, cake and candles.
It’s more about pride and prominence, the celebratory event to which the public is invited at 1pm Aug. 7 at the Stephen Ludlam American Legion Post 331, at the corner of 117th Street and Second Avenue in Stone Harbor.
The event formally recognizes the 75th anniversary of the post and the 126th anniversary of the building, a link between lifesaving groups: the United States Coast Guard and American service branches. It is dubbed “The Jewel of Seven Mile Island” by the post.
Along with local politicians, Post Commander Tom McCullough and Trustee Jon Ready are scheduled to speak.
Each has a unique connection to Post 331. Ready, who also organizes the post’s Sept. 12 fundraising dinner and its program book, never forgets the intense sacrifice shown by soldiers in combat. Ready served in Vietnam in 1969 and 1970. He received the combat infantry badge, and he recalls the living-on-eggshells world from five decades back like it was yesterday.
“All these years later, you never forget that you came back; some other guys did not, and that could have been you,” he says. “Whatever we can do for fellow veterans, we are happy to.
“What was it like fighting in Vietnam? It was freaking awful. We faced the enemy, and it wasn’t from the back, it was from the front. Something in humans kicks in and makes you want to survive under extreme pressure, knowing you can get knocked off at any moment.”
McCullough, like the post, is 75 years old. He commends the longtime support of Avalon and Stone Harbor government officials and the foresight of Legion pioneers. They converted a former lifesaving station into a tourism magnet with an impressive building containing murals, artifacts, and guided tours.
The building is both a history lesson and an inspiration to preserve it.
“I am a post-World War II baby and what this signifies to me is that our parents were called ‘The Greatest Generation’ for a reason,” says McCullough, who has been the Post 331 commander for four years. “The people who were here were smart enough to grasp the opportunity to have a federal building sold to them for the tidy sum of $1. And now, in one of the premier buildings on Seven Mile Island, they have this beautiful home to carry on the work of our post.
“The key mindset of our organization is that a number of us are quite lucky that we are not in need and our health is pristine,” McCullough adds. “But there are many veterans who are less fortunate and in need at this stage of our lives. Our mission is to help them.”
The work has several factions. One is honoring the branches of service at events like Flag Day, Memorial Day and Veterans Day in Avalon and Stone Harbor.
Another involves giving help to veterans in need.
Post 331 funnels financial support through organizations like the Cape May County-based Community Veterans Advisory Council.
At its regular membership meeting on July 7, the post presented a check for $3,000 to CVAC. This represents continuing support of that organization’s mission to assist homeless veterans and veterans in need within Cape May County.
The CVAC website reports that, as of June, the organization had helped more than 100 individuals avoid homelessness, get Veterans Affairs benefits, or get transportation to clinics in Philadelphia and Wilmington.
For both CVAC and Post 331, the past year was more poignant, and painful, than ever. The pandemic interrupted the contact between organizations, groups, and comrades.
“It is heart-wrenching to me,” McCullough says. “I reflected on this during COVID when people had loved ones pass away in the hospitals and they were not able to say goodbye. We also were not able to give them the proper military sendoff.
“Think about how this has been true in the military for years. A kid who goes off to a faraway country, whether it is Italy or China, and suddenly loses the best friend he just met two weeks ago. You die alone, in another country, far from home.”
That reality, and many others, forms the educational component of the post’s mission.
“When we celebrate on a holiday, it’s not about a barbecue. This is about recognizing the males and females who gave the ultimate sacrifice for this great nation,” McCullough says. “No country in the world has the freedom we do here. Nowhere else in the world can you speak out openly, challenge any one in office, no matter what that office is. You are allowed to do that in the U.S. We are the home of the free because of the brave.”
The post building is another component to this story. It is a visual magnet. Post 331 officials restored a deactivated U.S. Coast Guard station that was a U.S. Life-Saving Service station when it was built in 1895. The building not only serves as a meeting place for Legionnaires, but it also houses a lifesaving museum on its first floor and a military museum on its second floor.
The building’s tower offers a panoramic view of the southern part of the island. American Legion Post 331 and Sons of the American Legion 331 members provide free tours five days a week during the summer.
The restoration includes many facets initiated by Bill Lehman and Dick Pike, who now are tour guides. Their work included obtaining funds from various agencies to enhance the infrastructure and the roof, and to subsidize upgrades along the grounds.
Lehman notes that New Jersey once had 41 lifesaving stations, including one in Avalon and Stone Harbor. They served as a forerunner to the United States Coast Guard. Nationwide, Lehman says, personnel at these stations saved 178,000 lives among people aboard 28,000 boats from 1871 to 1915. Their unselfish nature carries forward more than 100 years later.
“Our objective is to serve those who have served,” Lehman says. “We want to give them the best and help them with the lives they have left.”
The signature celebration, and the milestone year, emphasize that.
