You’ve likely driven by VFW Post 1689, but you may not know the many ways this San Marco VFW post cares for its neighbors.
One such example is their work at the historic Phillips Craig Swamp Memorial Cemetery. When the City could no longer manage it, the group stepped in to oversee maintenance. Post members mow grass and remove fallen trees after storms, and they are currently seeking a university or graduate student with a capstone project to help identify unmarked graves, including those of veterans dating back to the Civil War.
The post’s community support extends further. For the past 55 years, Post 1689 has worked with JSO to host an appreciation day for safety patrols, bringing together students from 28 schools across the city at Ed Austin Regional Park this April. Members donated bikes and other prizes, and grilled more than 400 hot dogs.
The group also works closely with the nearby Jacksonville Vet Center on Phillips Highway, which provides confidential, no-cost help, including mental health services, for veterans, service members and their families.
“Sometimes the transition from being in the military is a little rough for veterans,” said Post Commander Pete LaComb, who served in Vietnam.
When LaComb first joined the VFW back in 1973, it still counted some World War I veterans among its membership. He remembers one veteran named Merson Lane, who famously marched in every July 4th and Veterans Day parade in full uniform.
Another former member whose memory the post keeps alive is Purple Heart Navy veteran Frank Purpura, who stormed the beaches of Normandy on D-Day at the age of 18. He worked as a barber into his 90s and remained active in the post until his death a couple of years ago.
On June 6, the 82nd anniversary of D-Day, Post 1689 members honored their late friend with a toast: brandy from Normandy.
“It would take a can opener to get him to talk about his service,” remembered Post Chaplain Woody Woodford. “His generation didn’t want to be called heroes. The country called them, and they answered.”
Woodford is one of several current Post 1689 members who live within walking distance. A Marine and Navy veteran who served in Vietnam, Grenada and the Persian Gulf, Woodford visits veterans in homes and hospitals to minister to them.
Army veteran Del Monroe, a chef at a barbecue restaurant, has come up with a creative way to support the post: He operates 1689 Pizza out of the building’s kitchen, serving up thin-crust pizzas that are available on DoorDash or for pick-up until 11:30 p.m.
“It’s my own recipe,” said Monroe, who is still perfecting his formula. “It’s about 94% complete.”
Army veteran Stephen Shore, who flew into Mogadishu the day after Black Hawk Down occurred, lives a block away. He joined Post 1689 soon after moving to the neighborhood and said he wishes the group could do more to help veterans.
“We are struggling financially, so we cannot help as much as we’d like to,” said Shore. “We are trying to keep the doors open while we also struggle with an aging building.”
VFW membership has been in decline nationwide for years, mirroring a trend affecting fraternal organizations from the American Legion to the Freemasons and the Elks. Younger veterans are not joining VFW posts at the same rate as previous generations.
“A lot of young veterans think their experiences were different than ours, but they’re really not,” said Post Quartermaster Jeff Lincoln, an Operation Desert Fox veteran.
Founded in 1929, Post 1689 is believed to be the third-oldest VFW post in Florida. It was originally located near the old Acosta Bridge on the Southbank before relocating to St. Augustine Road in the 1980s when the new bridge was built. Over the years, declining membership forced four VFW posts to consolidate, with Post 1689 absorbing their members.
In 2023, an episode of the Paramount reality TV show “Bar Rescue” featured Post 1689, completing some desperately needed renovations to the aging building.
One of the only areas of the post left untouched by the renovation was the canteen, for sentimental reasons: Some members like to sit in the same spot their parents used to sit, surrounded by their fathers’ medals, ribbons and coins from foreign deployments, which are preserved in the counter in epoxy.
Since the “Bar Rescue” episode aired, membership at the post has risen 15%, but the group still faces challenges in recruiting younger veterans.
LaComb said the organization welcomes new members, and those who aren’t eligible to join can still support the post by ordering pizzas, donating items to its supply drives for veterans, shopping at the post’s annual rummage sale or renting the group’s meeting hall for their events.
They’ve already risked so much to serve their neighbors and their country, but the men and women of Post 1689 say they just want the opportunity to continue serving.
