Sons of The American Legion

The 30th Annual POW/MIA Watchfire is scheduled to take place in Seaside Heights on the bay-side beach on September 19-20 beginning at 7pm. This is a 12-hour vigil that runs from 7pm Saturday evening until 7am Sunday morning.

Despite the rumors, this is NOT an invite only event, although we are encouraging social distancing and mask-wearing as well as making some changes to try to keep everyone safe during the pandemic. This event has always been, and will continue to be open to the public in order to continue to spread awareness of the POW/MIA issue.

You do not need to remain the entire 12 hours, and food will be available on-site as usual. Please attend and help make the 30th Annual Watchfire a success.

September 3, 2020

Hi all!

The Detachment Officers and Staff had a virtual meeting this past Saturday, August 29, 2020. I was able to announce and show my awards at that time; I will present them to the recipients in the near future.

The awards and the recipients are as follows:

Commander's Award: Mark Natale
Commander's Civil Service Award--Emergency Management: Tom Marsden
Commander's Civil Service Award--Fireman: Henry Hasselhan
Commander's Performing Arts Award: Dale and Amy Paradise

Congratulations to all!

I am starting up my itinerary for this term and am looking for events to attend throughout the state. Please forward any event information you have and I will try to attend it. Keep in mind that I do get multiple offers on the same date and do the best that I can to accommodate everyone around the state.

Our programs and fund raisers are ongoing and we have an upcoming Detachment event: Our annual Watchfire vigil will be held in Seaside Heights on Saturday, September 19, 2020 from 7pm to 7am Sunday morning. Please make every effort to attend this event that pays homage to our fallen and missing soldiers.

Our membership totals reflect a loss from members who didn't sign back up this year. Please keep up the buddy calls even though we are opening up; make sure your brothers are healthy and encourage them to get involved again. Our membership calculations for this past year have been extended to the end of the year.

Detachment Executive Committeemen (DECs) are still needed throughout the state. A DEC for a county is essentially that county's communications officer who serves as its representative and also has a vote on state Detachment issues. Please contact me immediately if you are interested.

Please stay healthy and be safe while our state opens up and our activities and fund raisers resume.

For God and Country,

Matthew C. Thalasinos
Commander
Sons of The American Legion
Detachment of New Jersey
2019-2021

Congratulations to our Ernie Wilson, Jr. Memorial Scholarship winner, Nicholas Christian, from Dunellen Squadron 119!

If you are interested in becoming the Detachment Executive Committeeman (DEC) for your county, please contact me as soon as possible; efforts to solidify and train those that want to represent their county at the Detachment level will begin in August.