There is a fondness in Sam Alphin’s voice as he recalls his childhood memories of going to the National Guard base across from Eggert’s Crossing Park and playing on the military tanks. One of his mother’s friends served in the New Jersey National Guard and would take him there to share stories with Alphin.
The days spent there had a lasting impact on the Lawrence native, who joined the National Guard right out of high school.
Alphin, who is the commander of American Legion Post 414, has been involved with the military and public service throughout his life. The 65-year-old veteran served in the National Guard during Vietnam, worked with the Trenton Police Department and was an officer in the New Jersey Department of Corrections. Now, as commander, he’s working arguably his most important job yet—helping local veterans.
Most recently, Alphin worked with the legion and the Township of Lawrence Patriotic Committee to organize a Military Appreciation Night at Trenton Thunder. On May 7, veterans will be honored during a special pregame ceremony and proceeds from tickets sold will benefit veterans’ programs. Milton Grannatt and Thomas McDonald are two of the local veterans who will be honored at the game.
“The baseball game is about veterans,” Alphin said. “It’s all about doing and giving praise to people and honoring them for the job they’ve done because a lot of times that goes unnoticed, and this is our way of saying thank you.”
While Alphin has dedicated himself to showing appreciation for veterans and their families, he didn’t always see himself in this volunteer role.
He was just three months away from retirement as an officer for the New Jersey Department of Corrections when he was hit by a truck. He flew 14 feet in the air before landing on his right side, leaving him with a fractured skull and herniated disks in his neck and back. Multiple surgeries, including one to replace his knee, left him unable to work.
“I sat at home and I’m thinking like ‘what can I do’ because I never knew how to sit home,” he said. “Most of my life has always been active. Thirty years I did with law enforcement, it was everyday, and now all of a sudden I’m not doing anything.”
While Alphin was still recovering, his postman suggested that he attend an American Legion Post 414 meeting. At the time, the legion was looking for members to join their executive board, and they knew right away Alphin was the perfect candidate.
“They said if you got enough nerve to come in here on crutches, you’re the kind of person we want,” he said.
Fourteen years later, Alphin worked his way up through the ranks to become commander, but all the while he was keeping in mind his main goal: to help veterans. He’s taken on a wide variety of projects since joining the legion—planning job fairs, hosting fundraisers, volunteering at senior centers and working with Veterans Affairs to ensure everyone is receiving their full benefits.
Alphin’s parents—Ida and Samuel Roy Alphin—taught him the importance of giving back to the community from a very young age. His father was a teacher and a member of the Trenton Board of Education and his mother was a director of daycare for the State of New Jersey.
“Their big thing was let me show you the best you can do,” he said. “Get involved with this, get involved with that, and ride it all the way until the end because you can be anything you want to be, you just have to get involved. I’m 65 now, and I try to give the best I got everyday.”
The draft was active when Alphin was in high school, but he joined the National Guard on his own and went into active duty in October 1969. During the Vietnam War, the majority of the National Guard was stationed in America, and Alphin was never deployed to fight overseas.
“Today it’s not like that,” he said. “They used to tease us—National Guard, Army Reserves, Coast Guard—ya’ll aren’t real. Today they’re real warriors.”
Not being deployed to Vietnam had other, more serious consequences than teasing from fellow veterans.
When Alphin’s service was over, his veterans status was good but he wasn’t eligible to receive veterans benefits. Congress said since they never ordered the National Guard to go fight, they didn’t get the benefits.
Alphin later saw history repeat itself with the Iraq War. “The President sent you there, but Congress didn’t, so now there was tiff going on [about benefits],” he said, adding that benefits were only covered for some troops for 90 days after they returned home.
When he first joined the legion, many of the functions held revolved around raising money for the families of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans who were struggling financially. Despite these efforts, Alphin said very few Iraq or Afghanistan veterans are joining the legion or other veterans organizations.
“What’s happening is a lot of veterans get out of Afghanistan and Iraq, and they’re not doing anything at all,” he said. “They’re not getting involved in anything because they were not easy wars.”
Even if they don’t seek out VA benefits, it’s Alphin’s goal to make sure each veteran knows what they’re eligible for and how to receive it. Finding jobs for veterans is one of the biggest things Alphin tries to do as commander.
“Those that weren’t able to get jobs, a lot of them ended up in jail. If they had been given a chance it might not have gone that way,” he said.
But the legion provides more than services, it provides camaraderie. Even with few younger veterans joining, the organization has grown tremendously since Alphin first joined. They began hosting more events, relaunched a ladies auxiliary and created a local Sons of the American Legion. To Alphin, everyone became one big family.
Some veterans came together in unexpected ways. James Hewitt and Edward Nowick were at the bombing of Pearl Harbor, but never met until they joined the legion. Alphin said watching these men share their stories with each other and civilians was beautiful.
In fact, the most rewarding experience for Alphin is seeing people stop and thank the veterans, either at a fundraiser, a fair, or just in their day-to-day lives.
The fondness in Alphin’s voice returns when he recalled watching Hewitt share his war stories at veterans programs.
“I’d have him come down to Trenton City Hall when we’d have our Memorial Day programs and he’d talk about Pearl Harbor,” he said. “He had stories he could tell that people could only imagine. It was a good thing for him.”
As Hewitt spoke, people were glued to their seats, eagerly waiting to hear what happened next. Afterwards, everyone in attendance thanked Hewitt, not only for sharing his memories but for his service to the nation.
Watching veterans receive recognition and appreciation is the motivation for Alphin to keep fighting on veterans’ behalf.
“For me, it’s like you know when you’re a little kid and you get a present, and you get a smile on your face that just won’t come off?” he said. ‘That’s what it’s like.”
To purchase tickets for Military Appreciation Night at Trenton Thunder on May 7, or to learn more about the American Legion, call 609-771-4143 or visit alpost414nj.org.
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