Change in Command
VFW Post 1963 Elects Mark Lloyd Commander as Charles Haines Takes District Position
Mark Lloyd and his wife, Patti. Mark was elected Commander of VFW Post 1963 in May, and Patti has led the Post Auxiliary since 2019.
Two Vietnam veterans have authored a seamless changing of the guard.
Mark Lloyd becomes the new commander of Sea Isle City’s VFW Post 1963 and Charles “Chick” Haines, the commander for the last 16 years, moves to a county-wide post.
Haines has been a passionate leader of the outfit, which is tightly connected to Sea Isle City holiday tributes on Memorial Day, Labor Day and Veterans Day.
Lloyd, elected to succeed Haines, assumed command on the post June 19.
Sea Isle City Mayor Leonard Desiderio recognized the old and new regimes via e-newsletter.
“I want to congratulate VFW Post 1963’s new commander, Mark Lloyd, who served in the U.S. Army [Airborne] during the Vietnam War and came home with a Purple Heart after being wounded in battle,” Desiderio wrote.
“I also want to thank Charles (Chick) Haines, who has been Commander of VFW Post 1963 for the past 16 years. It has always been a pleasure to work with Commander Haines, who served as a ‘River Rat’ in the U.S. Navy during the Vietnam War, and I wish him the best of luck as he moves onto his new position as Commander of VFW District 17, which includes all of the VFW Posts in Cape May County.”
Post 1963 is a Sea Isle City institution. It was chartered on March 30, 1953 and has grown substantially. The first commander, Vincent Mollo, began the post with 40 members. Lloyd said participation has grown to more than a couple hundred veterans and nearly 300 auxiliary members.
Sea Isle’s summer-destination status helps keep membership rolls high. Lloyd says Post 1963 has many transient members who live outside this area but maintain membership and gather here throughout the summer. That gives the post a strong base to fulfill its mission.
“We want to be ensuring that the focus of the VFW and auxiliary members is toward the veterans,” Lloyd says. “We also want to be an active member of the community. We are fortunate that a tremendous amount of support comes from our mayor. He has a soft spot in his heart for veterans.”
“We are that first building you hit when you come to the bottom of the bridge heading into Sea Isle City. We want to maintain ourselves as an active contributing member of the community and give assistance to our veterans.”
VFW Post 1963 recently installed its officers for the coming year. Front, from left: Trustee Ed Cook, Quartermaster John Felicetti, Judge Advocate Jim Gibbons, Chaplain Vince Conte, Adjutant Tom McCool, Trustee Rich Lomax. Back: VFW State Commander Brian Wiener, former Post 1963 Commander / VFW District 17 Commander Chick Haines, veterans Chris Kelly and Frank Diamond, Junior Vice Commander John Orlowski, Senior Vice Commander Tim MacAleer, and Commander Mark Lloyd.
Lloyd says VFW 1963 supports roughly 40 individuals per year, many at the Vineland Veterans Home. Services include helping veterans with physical difficulties and providing a place where they can convene.
Assisting veterans has a personal connection for Lloyd. His Vietnam War service ended in 1969 with a shotgun wound and the subsequent Purple Heart. He has physical reminders, producing some difficulty walking, i.e., and he has empathy for the overall needs of those who served this country.
“I was wounded, nothing heroic, I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time,” Lloyd says. “I took an AK 47 through my body. I spent about a year in the hospital, got through that and later had a career in data communications.
“I am fortunate. There are some physical challenges but I manage to get on with my life. Unfortunately, there are many veterans who need help both physically and mentally. We want to help them.”
And the help often runs deep in family circles. VFW commanders serve in a voluntary role and it’s customary for spouses to be involved with the auxiliary. Patti Lloyd, Mark’s wife, runs the Post 1963 auxiliary. He said it is one of the largest in New Jersey.
Its energy has been boundless. The auxiliary provides a wide range of services throughout Sea Isle City and to its members. They include:
Honoring living and deceased veterans.
Support for community leaders.
Donations to police, fire and rescue departments.
Christmas holiday food baskets for the area needy and elderly.
Scholarship programs.
Donations to Special Olympics.
Support for local scouting programs.
Participation in all Sea Isle City parades and events.
VFW, which stands for Veterans of Foreign Wars, highlights the deep commitment level veterans have displayed on foreign soil.
A sentence inscribed on the Post 1963 website summarizes it:
“It’s not what you paid for your membership,” it reads, “but what you paid to be eligible.”
Haines moves to another position, but his 2019 Veterans Day speech resonates with the VFW. It remains on the VFW 1963 website.
Some excerpts:
“We live with the freedoms and human rights that have only existed in an entire country once in the history of humankind. America is a nation born on the values and beliefs of Christianity and we thank God for the strength he has given us and our veterans to make this country the greatest nation in the world …
“It is the veteran that swore an oath to our great nation, endured the hell of war and risked or gave their lives. Yet there is someone else that needs to be thanked and honored … That would be the families of all our veterans. They had the sleepless nights of worry, the daily prayers to bring their child home safely and the fear of a knock on the door to face a military officer there to inform them that their child made the ultimate sacrifice. I say to the families of all our veterans, thank you for being there for us.”
The support is needed even more now, for those who have come home, battled the lingering effects of conflict or who have simply aged.
VFWs are a natural place to start.
