Excerpts from the Nashua Telegraph, Saturday, May 28, 1994
*This Memorial Day marks 75th anniversary of Nashua James E. Coffey Post of the American Legion.
Pictured in the photo from left, Roland Caron past commander; Betty Caron, auxiliary member; Barbera St. Onge, auxiliary president; and Gary Johnson, immediate past commander; sit in front of a photo display designed and arranged by the Carons, forming the words "Post 3" honoring all the past commanders including the only woman to hold the office, Peg Moore, 1984-85.
With flags waving and drums rolling, war veterans young and old will march down Main Street on Monday morning at 10:30 AM in the Memorial Day Parade. It has been thus for 75 years.
In Nashua, the national holiday to honor veterans has a double significance. It is also the 75th birthday of the James E. Coffey Post No. 3 of the American Legion.
When the first Memorial Day parade disbanded on May 30, 1919, a contingent of 25 ex-soldiers continued marching to the Nashua Armory on Canal Street. Weeks before, at the urging of returning doughboys, Col. William Sullivan had attended the second caucus of the American Legion in St. Louis. Back home, the Memorial Day Parade provided the ideal springboard for an organizational meeting.
The Nashua veterans' group received its charter on June 5 1919, little more than six months after the armistice, and Sullivan became the commander.
For its name, Legion members chose to pay tribute to the first Nashua soldier who lost his life in the war,icture James E. Coffey. A member of the 26th Division of the 103rd Infantry, Coffey was killed in a gas attack at Apremont, France, on May 10, 1918.
From the beginning, there has been an unwritten addition to the post's motto: "For God and Country." No less important is the credo: "For the community and for any member who needs help."
In fact, the American Legion soon became such a strong force in Nashua, it had its own call, 10-10, on the fire alarm system summoning members to the scene of a disaster. During the great flood in 1936, when every hand in the city was needed, the 10-10 signal was sounded. A picture in the Legion archives confirms the immediate response of members such as Leo Sirois, a merchant and a charter member of the post. The past commander is shown in a boat he secured and paddled through the flooded streets, rescuing Nashuans as he went along. It is a story often told at the post home on Court Street.
During the Persian Gulf War, the pregnant wife of an Army reserve soldier called into active duty needed help to move from Exeter, The Exeter Legion helped her pack and Coffey Post members met her here.
"I never realized how hard movers work," says Roland Caron, a past commander and part of the crew volunteering to lug her furniture off the truck. The Nashua legionnaires were there for any assistance after the move, too.
The Legion mounted a yellow ribbon campaign on the home front to look after other families of activated servicemen as well.
Last year, Caron was almost late for the Memorial Day Parade. He and his wife, Betty, had a much more important duty to perform for the post. They had to help a fellow member, and not even the parade takes priority over that.
The Carons rented a van to transport the longtime legionnaire in a wheelchair to the post. They pushed his wheelchair down the Library Alley walkway to the parade, where he was saluted by the marchers, including Caron who made the parade on the run.
It was the last parade for the disabled Vietnam veteran. The victim of a degenerative disease, he died soon after. During the year he declined, he was able to remain at home because teams of Legion comrades came to assist his wife morning and night with his care.
"If a Legion member needs help, all he has to do is tell one other," says Eleanor Potter, former Auxiliary president, The assistance is marshaled on the spot.
Jack Lemery, past commander and now service officer confirms Potter's statement.
"There are 10 people on my committee and we have logged more than 1,000 hours this year," he says. Empty food pantries are filled, heating bills are paid and transportation to the doctor quietly handled by the committee, as well.
The buddy system that fuels the Legion grew out of sharing the hardships of war. After the armistice in 1919, some 500 delegates representing all the divisions of the first American Expeditionary Forces in France me in Paris to form the American Legion.
In Nashua, as in thousands of communities across the country, the Legion has been more than a casual affiliation. It has become a way of life.
There was no question about Gary Johnson's allegiance when he returned from Marine Corps duty in the Vietnam War.... Today Johnson is the retiring commander of the Coffey Post and he manages the Legion lounge.
In the parade on Monday, Johnson will resume his post in the Color Guard, leading the Coffey Post brigade. The showcase contingent has taken top honors in the state four times in recent years.
The reach of the James E. Coffey Post into community life has been long and deep during its 75-year history.
Many of its members have been mayors, Teachers, lawyers, bankers, civic and business leaders.
And how many young people got their first taste of politics at Girls or Boys State, the annual mock government project sponsored by the Legion?
How many Girl Scout and Boy Scout troops salute flags presented to them by the Legion?
Home has always been the Legion's first line of defense. As it has been doing for 75 years, Nashua's James E. Coffey Post will continue to march on even when the parade is over.
***Story by Marilyn Solomon, The Telegraph community news editor
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