WILDWOOD – Ed Dixon is a man on a mission, seeking to have local towns dedicate the month of August each year to remembering military veterans.
Dixon is a Navy veteran who served not only in the Vietnam War era, but during the Cuban Missile Crisis, which lasted for 13 days in October 1962.
He visited the Wildwood Board of Commissioners meeting May 14 and expressed his desire to have the entire month of August dedicated to veterans.
“Why August?” Mayor Ernie Troiano asked him.
Dixon explained that there are major holidays dedicated to remembering Americans, and veterans in particular, starting with Memorial Day in May. Then, on June 6 people remember D-Day, and on July 4 there’s Independence Day.
“There is no significant celebration in August,” he said. “And it is the last vacation month for visitors.”
Dixon, who was wearing his American Legion Honor Guard uniform at the Wildwood meeting, said he had been visiting towns in Cape May County, and a number of them had responded positively, though not all. Ocean City, he said, issued a proclamation in 2024 and has been promoting the idea, as well as organizing events to celebrate veterans.
He said Ocean City set up free military-themed movies on weekends at the library. Officials there are also mentioning the name of a deceased military member each time the flag is raised, he said, and sponsoring a brief parade on the boardwalk.
He said he asked them to remind people, again, at the end of July so they are aware of it going into August.
“They are just trying to do some extras to make it known,” he said.
Dixon has also presented the idea to Cape May, Avalon and Stone Harbor.
“Cape May was very receptive, Avalon liked the idea, and so did Stone Harbor,” he said.
He said he hoped to attend meetings where each town issues a proclamation declaring August as honoring veterans.
Dixon said his first goal is to try to get all South Jersey onboard, and then, if possible, to reach out to the northern part of the state. He hopes politicians will pick up on the idea and spread it around the nation.
Troiano said Wildwood always supports its veterans, mentioning the memorial wall across from Convention Hall and the playing to the national anthem each day on the boardwalk. The commissioners did not address Dixon’s specific request.
Dixon grew up in North Philadelphia, the son of a plumber who worked for the New York Shipbuilding Corp. in Camden. His father wanted to join the Navy, but when the Navy learned he had shipbuilding experience it asked him to forego entering the service and to begin work at the Navy Yard in Philadelphia.
This helped spawn Dixon’s interest in joining the Navy, and in 1962, while still in high school, he enlisted. After he graduated, he went to the Great Lakes Naval Training Center for boot camp and was then sent to Norfolk, Virginia. There he was assigned to the USS Rockridge, a troop transport ship, and ended up carrying Marines to all the hot spots in the world.
“We went to Cuba. It was the missile crisis,” Dixon said.
The troop carrier and its Marines were there to babysit Soviet freighters, which had arrived to pick up the missiles. He said part of their mission was to board the freighters and verify that they were indeed loading real missiles, not dummies. All the while, he said, the Marines were ready to hit the beach if needed.
Dixon said once he is done asking towns in Cape May County, he will turn to Atlantic County – Longport, Margate, Atlantic City – for support. He doesn’t know the extent of what he can do, but he is willing to try.
“I don’t know how much more I can do, but I will keep going as long as I can walk,” he said. “I think this is something that is long overdue.”
Contact the reporter, Christopher South, at csouth@cmcherald.com or 609-886-8600, ext. 128.
