John "Cecil" Cox - Cecil was born in 1897 and in 1911 moved to Clovis, CA with his family. Here he attended Clovis High School where his father taught Commerical Business. Records show Cecil received his military training in Charlotte, NC in November, 1917 and was shipped to France on December 7, 1917. Cecil was an infantry private assigned to Company B, 2nd Engineer Regiment, 2nd Division. Cecil was killed in action on June 7, 1918 in the battle of Marne, Belleau Wood. John is buried in Asne-Marne American Cemetery, Belleau, France along with 2,000 other causities from this battle.

In 1919, active Post Members decided that since the Post had been assigned a unit number it should also have a name. The membership pondered over this problem for quite some time because there were many who had distinguished themselves during the war. However, abiding by the rules and regulations of the National Consitution, "no Post should be named for a person still living" the members decided to name the Post after John Cecil Cox. This young man , in the army less than a year, was the first solider from Clovis killed in World War I. Because there were other men named John .... Cox; namely John M. Cox (father) and John Maurice Cox (cousin) , the group forming the Post decided to use thew deceased solider's second given name only and his surname in order to maintain individuality, and the Post officially became known as Cecil Cox Post 147, The American Legion, Clovis, California.

Albert Blumer

75 Years Continuous Membership

 Both of Al’s parents were born in Pennsylvania. In route to Alaska Al’s father ran out of money in Dinuba and ended up settling there. Al was born and raised in Dinuba attending Dinuba HS. At the age of 17 he enlisted in the US Navy in July 1941. Al received his training in San Diego. December 7, 1941 found Al aboard the USS Enterprise as a gunner’s mate outside of Pearl Harbor.

During the first year of the war the crew of the USS Enterprise sank or destroyed 30 Japanese vessels and shot down 185 Japanese aircraft. Al participated in the following battles as a crew member on a five-inch deck gun:

·      Gilbert and Marshall Island Raid February 1, 1942

·      Wake Island Raid February 24, 1942

·      Marcus Island Raid March 4, 1942

·      Battle of Midway June 4-6, 1942

·      Occupation of Guadalcanal August 7-8, 1942

·      Battle of the Stewart Islands August 24, 1942

·      Battle of Santa Cruz October 26, 1942

·      Battle of the Solomon Islands November 14-15, 1942

Following these battles Al was re-assigned to San Pedro and retrained for duty on a Crash Boat.  A Crash Boat is essential a PT Boat stripped of its armaments and used to rescue downed pilots. Al spent the next several months operating out of Hawaii and then onto the Marshall Islands. During this time Al was promoted to Gunner’s Mate Second Class. Al’s enlisted expired on August 6, 1944, however Al remained in the Navy for the duration of the War plus an additional 6 months.

Al returned to Dinuba and attended Reedley College. He worked briefly at JC Penney’s before moving Willits, Ca to take over management of the local Movie Theatre. Here is where he met and married his wife. Al realized he could do more and took a job with Crocker Bank and moved to Modesto. He spent the next 32 years working at Crocker Bank. Upon retiring he then worked the next 20 years for VSI retiring for real this time at the age of 82.

During this time Al was active with both the American Legion and the Boy Scouts of America. He served in various Post Leadership positions and as Post 147 Commander from 1985 through 1986. From 1995 through 1998 Al served as the Department Boy Scout Chairman. Last year Al was recognized for over 75 years in Scouting. Al started as scout and continued through all ranks and all leadership positions. He has earned the Wood Badge and was awarded the Silver Beaver Award which is the council-level distinguished service award of the Boy Scouts of America. Under his leadership the post received several awards for outstanding scouting programs which can be seen in our display case at the post.

This year Al joins a very elite class of Legionnaires. I would like to present Al with his 75-year membership pin and certificate. It is both an honor and privilege to recognize Al for a Life Time of Achievement and Service.