History of the Nickerson Post #382

History of the Robert I. Nickerson Post, #382, American Legion 1946-2019

Glendon J. Buscher, Jr., Past Commander

 

 

On August 7, 1946, fourteen individuals petitioned the national organization for the issuance of a temporary charter for the formation of an American Legion Post at Squantum, Massachusetts, to be known as the Robert I. Nickerson Post, #382, American Legion Department of Massachusetts. The Post was to be named after Squantum resident Robert Irving Nickerson, who was killed May 24, 1944, in Milngavie, East Dunbartonshire, Scotland as the result of injuries received in an airplane crash while serving as a First Lieutenant at Headquarters Squadron 402 Air Depot Group. Lieutenant Nickerson is buried in the Cambridge American Cemetery in Cambridgeshire, England.  Lieutenant Nickerson was born December 11, 1918, the son of Irving L. and Lillian Nickerson and was married August 29, 1942 at MacDill Field, Florida, to Ruth S. Christianson, daughter of Sigried Christianson and Ragna Liudviksen. Their residence in Squantum was at 5 Mayflower Road. The temporary charter was granted August 31, 1946, by the American Legion National Headquarters in Indianapolis, Indiana. 

 

The first Installation of Post Officers was held October 28, 1946 at the Quincy Lodge of Elks. John Morley, Jr. was elected the first Commander of the Post.  Appended to this history is a list of all of the Commanders of the Nickerson Post since its beginning in 1946. A unit of the American Legion Auxiliary was also formed in 1946 and the first slate of Auxiliary Officers was installed on that date. A list of the first elected officers of the Post and Auxiliary is appended to this history. This auxiliary unit later became inactive, but was reactivated from March 11, 1955 to Jan. 10, 1964, then again on August 29, 1994. The first President of the 1994 Auxiliary was Marie Clark. This unit is now also inactive.  Appended hereto is the list of the 1994 Auxiliary charter members.

 

On July 15, 1947, an application was made for a permanent Legion charter, which was granted September 25, 1947 by the National Headquarters and formally issued by the Legion Department of Massachusetts on October 6, 1947. Appended to this history is a list of the original charter members of the Post. The permanent charter for the Auxiliary was issued January 10, 1947. The Post subsequently applied for incorporation as a Massachusetts Corporation under the provisions of Chapter 180 of the General Laws by Articles of Incorporation dated November 13, 1954.  The required first meeting of the organization was held November 15, 1954.  The application was approved, and the Post officially incorporated on November 17, 1954. A list of the incorporators and first directors of the corporation is appended to this history.  At the initiative of Past Commander John Lyons, a Sons of the Legion Squadron was chartered December 15, 1982. The first Commander of the Squadron was Thomas J. Burns. This Squadron continues actively to this day.

 

The meetings of the Post were held first at the Squantum School, and later at business premises on East Squantum Street, including the Barber Shop and the Player Building.  Around 1951, meetings were held at a summer house at 238 Bellevue Road. Thereafter, on November 25, 1955, a two-story house at 4 Newland Street was acquired for the Post Home from Edward F. and Mary R. Michener. The house at 4 Newland Street burned to the ground in 1963 and meetings were then moved first to a building at what is now the Boston Harbor Marina and then to the store front now occupied by Stamos and Stamos Realty located at 747 East Squantum Street. Finally, with the closing of the Squantum Nike site, the building at 20 Moon Island Road was made available for the Post’s use and remains to this day the Post Home. The vacant Newland Street property was finally sold on October 13, 1994. On June 16, 1987 a hearing was held before the Licensing Board of the City of Quincy upon the application of the Post for a liquor license and this license was subsequently granted.

  

The Post is a member of and participates in the activities of the Quincy Veterans Council and of Department 6 of the Massachusetts Legion and functions as a center for the support and comradeship of veterans and as a liaison to the veteran’s hospital and veterans’ service organizations. There is an ongoing program of collecting and sending care packages to our deployed service men and women.

 

The Nickerson Post participates in the Christmas “Wreaths Across America” program, a project to place wreaths on the graves of all Veterans buried in Quincy. The hope is to lay wreaths on all 7300 veteran grave markers in the city cemeteries. The project is a nationwide movement participated in by many Legion Posts nationwide and is being sponsored and carried out locally in coordination with the Quincy Veterans Council.  The Post is also pleased to support the International Racing Program and the U.S.A. A-Team. This is an International Hydroplane Racing Team captained by Billy Allen from Squantum.  This team has won many international; medals.

 

Many community activities have been or are currently sponsored or supported by the Post. In particular, beginning in 1969, and continuing for many years thereafter, the Post sponsored the Sea Explorer Ship #382 and procured for the unit for $550 a 20-foot 6 inch Indian Sailboat which was named the Sea Explorer Ship Geronimo.  The Post Home was the venue for a number of years for the annual of the Shriners Burn Institute and Quincy Fire Department Carnival for child burn victims. For many years, The Post sponsored the local Squantum Little League Team and has supported the Boy Scout Program and its local unit Troop24, Squantum. The Post annually sponsors high school students to the Boys State and Girls State programs, programs which are designed to give young people an insight into how government works on the local, state and federal levels, and also sponsors candidates for the Youth Cadet Law Enforcement Student Trooper program, which exposes them to the type of training required should they choose to enter law enforcement.

Awards for excellence are also given each year to two students nominated by the staff of Squantum Elementary School and Atlantic Middle School.  The JROTC unit at North Quincy High School  is recognized each year by the presentation of medals and certificates for military excellence and scholastic excellence to a cadet nominated by the Corps Commandant and staff. Post facilities are regularly made available for community causes and functions.  The Post Color Guard marches in Quincy Patriotic parades as well as the Fourth of July Parade and Flag Raising, where it distributes American Flags to the children.

 

The Post annually awards two $1000 scholarships to high school seniors who are children of Post members or residents of Squantum.  These scholarships are in memory of Lance Corporal Christopher C. Donahue and Gunnery Sergeant Francis J. Thorpe.  Lance Corporal Christopher C. Donahue, from Quincy MA, was born May 24, 1950. He served from Nov.11, 1968 to May 19, 1969, in the C Battery, First Marine Division, First Battalion, Eleventh Marines as a Motor Vehicle Operator. He was killed in Quang Nam, South Vietnam May 19, 1969 in a traumatic non-hostile accidental homicide. He is listed on the Vietnam Memorial Wall and on the Quincy Vietnam Veterans Memorial Clock Tower. He is buried in Mount Wollaston Cemetery.  Gunnery Sergeant Francis C. Thorpe, from Norfolk, MA, was born September 21, 1923.  He served as a Marine Infantry Leader with Advisory Team 3, USMC Advisory Unit, Naval Advisory Group USNAVFORV. He was killed November 1, 1971 as the result of injuries sustained in a traumatic ground casualty event in Quang Tri Province, South Vietnam. He is listed on the Vietnam Memorial Wall and is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

 

At the junction of Dorchester Street and East Squantum Street the Post maintains a triangular park dedicated in 1955 to the memory of Private First-Class Daniel N. Gilbert, Private Gilbert was born March 24, 1931 and resided at 15 Park Avenue, Squantum. He was killed in action at Yongsan, Korea, on September 1, 1950.  He was a member of the 9th Infantry Regiment, Second Infantry Division of the United States Army. He went to grammar school in Squantum and attended North Quincy High. He was a member of the Massachusetts National Guard and deployed to Korea. At the time of his death he was survived by his two sisters and three brothers, as well as his parents. He is buried in Mount Wollaston Cemetery.

 

The 80 Original Charter Members of the Robert I. Nickerson Post

Charles A. Anderson

John E. Anderson

Harold J. Barnes

Joseph G. Bird

George E. Brophy

Esther F. Burns

Gerald Chartier

Chesleigh C. Chisholm

Edgar C.  Chisholm

Robert C. Cory

Joseph I. Coughlin

Frank C. Damon

Leo DesChamplain

Herbert Dinsmore

Edwin C. Dinsmore

Clifford F. Donahue

Russell J. Doucette

Robert A. Driscoll

Charles R. Duncan

Thomas P. Flaherty

Joseph M. Flanagan

Charles B. Ford

Laurence B. Ford

Calvin C. Frazer

James Frazer

William W. Gardiner

John Hadley

Robert C. Hanson

Erland F. Hanson

Herbert R. Hartwell

Roscoe M. Hathon

Leonard B. Hathon

Thor Herstad

Charles W. Hopkins

Francis Howard

William A. Jack

Alfred B. Johnson

George J. Cleveland, Jr.

John J. Morley, Jr.

Charles B. Masseth, Jr.

William J. Cataldo, Jr.

William H. Kenney

Justin Killoran

Edwin B. Kincaid

Frank Kincaid

Donald B. King

Paul E. Knight

Joseph P. LaCamara

Henry Laurens

Robert J. Laverty

Herbert Lawrence

Walter B. Lounsbury

Thomas E. Lynch

Alexander L. MacDonald

Harold Roger Mason

Peter J. Maurano

Edwin J. McCarron

William T. McCarron

Raymond F. McPeck

Francis M. Nickerson

Ralph M. Nickerson

Matthew S. Principe

Harold J. Ramsden

Robert Von Riegers

John W. Seeley

Arthur J. Shaw

Robert S. Sherman

Richard Stevens

Russell H. Thomas

A.S. Thomas

Kenneth R. Turner

Edward W. Vogel

John Joseph Walsh

John Welch

James Will

Thomas H. Williamson

Russell S. Willis

Robert Workman

  

First Elected Officers of the Robert I. Nickerson Post (1946)

Commander: John J. Morley, Jr.

Senior Vice Commander: John Welch

Junior Vice Commander: Matthew L. Principe

Finance Officer: Frank Damon

Adjutant: William Kenney

Historian: Francis Howard

Executive Committee: Robert Hansen, Joseph Flanagan,  Harold Mason

 

First Elected Officers of the Legion Auxiliary (1946)

President: Lillian Carney

Senior Vice President: Mary K. Morley

Junior Vice President: Helen Howard

Treasurer: Virginia M. Kenney

Secretary: Patricia R. Morley

Historian: F. Gertrude Duncan

Sgt. At Arms: Virginia Corey

Executive Board:

Laura Principe

Elizabeth Cataldo

Hazel Morrow

Elizabeth Welch

 

Signers of the Articles of Incorporation and Officers and Directors of

Robert I. Nickerson No. 382, Inc.

President: James J. Fallon

Treasurer: John X. Healey

Clerk/Secretary: William C. Ellis

Officers having the power of Directors:

James J. Fallon

William C. Ellis

George R. Alcott

Frank P. Carlino, Jr.

J. Vincent Smyth

Harold J. Barnes

John X. Healey

 

American Legion Auxiliary 1994 Charter – Original Charter Members

Elaine Barrett

Gail Burns

Grace M. Buscher

Anne Clarke

Marie Clark

June Feetham

Kathryn J. Galvin

Joan Kelley Hastings

L. Carol Killoran

Linda Kowilcik

Ann M. MacDougall

Joanne Morrissey

Nancy N, Nickerson

Susan Nickerson

Erin Louise Nickerson

Patricia O’Keefe

Lois Pimentel

Janice Reynolds

Carol Saniuk

Barbara Sealund

Kathy Spring

Sandra T. Sullivan

Susan Lydon Walsh

Claire Ritchie White

 

 

First 1994 Auxiliary Officers

President Marie Clark

Vice President Claire Ritchie White

Secretary Grace Buscher

Treasurer Linda Kowilcik

Chaplin Sandy Sumner

Historian Carol Saniuk

Sgt. at Arms Susan Lydon Walsh

Executive Board- Kathryn Galvin, Lois Pimentel, Nancy Nickerson

 

Robert I. Nickerson Post Past Commanders

1946-47 John Morley, Jr.

1947-48 John Walsh

1948-49 Leo DesChamplain

1949-50 Harold Mason

1950-51 Wallace Rockwell

1951-52 George Alcott

1952-53 Joseph LaCamera

1953-54 Frank Carlino

1954-55 James Fallon

1955-56 Carl Larson

1956-57 George Klier

1957-58 Gerald Coletta, Jr.

1958-59 Charles Ward

1959-61 Joseph Cornellisen

1961-62 John Lyons

1962-63 James Horan

1963-64 John Thompson

1964-65 James Horan

1965-66 Alfred Braun

1966-67 James Flynn

1967-68 Charles Melchione

1968-69 Daniel McGinley

1969-70 Wallace Griffith

1970-71 Richard Hendry

1971-72 Harold E. Hutchings

1972-73 Donald R. Pitts

1973-74 Leonard I. West

1974-75 Earl C. Montgomery

1975-76 Thomas A. Quinn

1977-78 Paul D. Connor, Jr.

1978-79 Donald J. O’Leary

1979-80 John H. Nickerson

1980-81 John A. Pazyra

1981-82 Richard W. Anderson

1982-83 Donald V. Ross

1983-84 John T. Erlandson

1984-85 John P. Kelley, Jr.

1985-86 Anthony M. Wolowicz

1986-87 Richard MacDougall

1987-88 Robert P. Verney

1988-89 John J. Walsh, Jr.

1989-90 Donald R. Pitts

1990-91 Donald R. Pitts

1990-92 Howard A. Mackay, Jr.

1992-93 Richard MacDougall

1993-94 Robert Sealund

1994-95 Peter Nickerson

1995-97 Glendon J. Buscher, Jr.

1997-98 John Clark

1998-99 Bob Verney

1999-01 Michael McCauley

2001-03 Frank Iantosca

2003-04 Michael McCauley

2004-05 Glendon J. Buscher, Jr.

2005-06 Richard MacDougall

2006-07 Michael McCauley

2007-19 James Doherty

2019-20 John Diggins