Flyers, American Legion Help Coast Guard

STONE HARBOR — The Stephen C. Ludlam American Legion Post 331 was the scene for another act demonstrating this region’s commitment to the U.S. Coast Guard. At the start of a regularly scheduled membership meeting, Post Trustee Albert Carusi, also a member of Stone Harbor Borough Council, introduced Jim McCrossin, director of Sports Medicine for the Philadelphia Flyers and a Stone Harbor resident.
McCrossin and his wife Robyn presented Post 331 and its Commander Harry Clayton with a check for $7,000. The money is to be used to send needy Coast Guard personnel home for the Christmas holidays.
For 15 years, McCrossin and his wife have organized the annual “Trial on the Isle” event in Stone Harbor, a mini triathlon event that raises money for Flyers Charities and for Post 331.
Some of the money raised has gone to helping veterans for the last seven years. This year’s event raised funds that will be turned over to the Coast Guard Training Center Commanding Officer Capt. G. Todd Prestidge. The Coast Guard will select specific individuals to be helped with the funds.
The intimate ties that exist between the citizens of Cape May County and the Coast Guard were given official recognition this May when the county was named a Coast Guard Community, one of only two in the nation.
A better known example of the way the community reaches out to the Coast Guard during the holidays is the Red Cross-organized Operation Fireside through which individual families throughout the region host Coast Guard trainees for a holiday dinner.
The program at Post 331 does not have the visibility of the larger Red Cross effort, but for the last two years it has quietly helped a handful of individuals from the Cape May Training Center spend Christmas holidays with their families, all expenses paid.
Stone Harbor Mayor Suzanne Walters and Sen. Jeff Van Drew (D-1st) were present for the brief ceremony.
McCrossin, who comes from a military family, talked of the importance of his own father’s ability to get home for the holidays while in the service. Standing with his wife was his young son Luke, witness to the commitment of both of his parents.
Post 331, activated in 1945, is housed in the borough’s oldest existing building, Tatham’s Life Saving Station at 117th Street and Second Avenue.
The post is named in memory of Stephen C. Ludlam who was killed in action at the Battle of the Bulge in World War II. For his heroic action in defeating a German machine gun and saving his comrades, Pvt. Ludlam received the Purple Heart and Distinguished Service Cross (the nation’s second highest award). He is buried in Union Cemetery, South Dennis.
The newly-started effort by the Stone Harbor Museum to recognize historic structures in the borough has resulted in the Vintage House plaque displayed in the front with the building’s date of 1895 proudly featured. The Post’s founding members purchased the building which, appropriate to the evening’s event, was then a decommissioned Coast Guard Station.
The brief ceremony at Post 331 for a program that has not had much public exposure is just another of the many ways in which this community shows its dedication to the Coast Guard, and, more generally, to those who serve in all areas of the armed forces.  
To contact Vince Conti, email vconti@cmcherald.com.