Adam, Christina and Penelope Fleck will be arriving for a week-long vacation in Longport on Wednesday, Sept. 12.
LONGPORT – While Hurricane Florence churns in the Atlantic Ocean, where water temperatures are hovering 80 degrees, members of the Longport American Legion Post 469 are finalizing plans for Wednesday’s Downbeach welcome parade and the week’s itinerary honoring a wounded veteran and his family.
U.S. Navy Chief Petty Officer Adam Fleck is the recipient of the post’s seventh annual Wounded Warrior Week at the Jersey Shore. Fleck, his wife Christina and their 4-year-old daughter Penelope will be welcomed Sept. 12 for a weeklong, all-expense-paid vacation at the beachblock home of Longport Commissioner Jim Leeds.
“I feel very proud to be able to open my home to a fellow veteran,” said Leeds, who served in the NJ Air National Guard from 1959 to 1969.
“I was activated several times, but never saw action like this Navy man,” Leeds said.
Adam Fleck in Afghanistan.
Leeds, whose home is one house from the beach, said he would be in Florida for the week.
“I’ll just show the Legionnaires where the key and the remote are and be off. I would have loved to meet the family, but it’s not logistically possible.”
Leeds said members of the Auxiliary will prepare the house and stock the refrigerator with all the necessities for a week at the beach, and there are lots of toys and stuffed animals available for Penelope.
Fleck trained and worked with Navy SEALS during various overseas operations. His specialty was disposing of explosive ordinance intended to injure and kill American troops. He was in Afghanistan when an insurgent attacked his group and one of his men was killed. He and several others were badly injured. Fleck was awarded a Purple Heart and due to his injuries, was medically retired from the U.S. Navy in June.
U.S. Navy Chief Petty Officer Adam Fleck is the recipient of the Longport American Legion Post’s seventh annual Wounded Warrior Week
According to Post Commander Larry Pacentrilli, if it’s raining on Wednesday afternoon, the welcome parade may not happen as meticulously planned.
That would be disappointing to the Downbeach community, which is looking forward to welcoming Fleck and his family with a surprise, patriotic welcome when they arrive in Ventnor at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 12.
The plan is for Legion members to escort the family to Ventnor Plaza shopping center, where they will transfer to a long, white convertible limousine, and be led by motorcade to their home-away-from home in Longport. Members of the Legion Riders motorcycle club will lead the caravan through the Downbeach communities of Ventnor, Margate and Longport, where police and fire companies will join the motorcade as they proceed through the Downbeach communities. The parade route is Dorset Avenue to Atlantic Avenue, then right to the home in Longport.
The welcome parade is a surprise for Fleck and his family, Pacentrilli said.
It rained lightly during last year’s parade, so the top had to be put on the convertible limo and the crowds along the parade route were a bit sparser than prior years. However, students in Downbeach schools still made banners and posters to display along the route.
There are no alternative plans for the week-long vacation in the event of a storm, but most planned activities are indoors, he said.
“The only thing that would be affected is the trip to the Ocean City boardwalk, but that can easily be switched to another day,” Pacentrilli said. “It would be disappointing if they missed beach time, but he’s a Navy man who lives in Virginia Beach, so he understands the weather risks.”
Like in the military, the arrival itinerary is timed to near perfection.
Fleck will be driving his own vehicle from Virginia Beach and will take the ferry from Lewis, Delaware to Cape May, where he will be met by Legionnaires and escorted to the Ventnor Plaza shopping center.
“If the ferry doesn’t run, he can take the land route, which is almost the same amount of time,” Pacentrilli said.
The week is the post’s way of saying thank you to Fleck for his service and sacrifice, Pacentrilli said.
Planned activities during the Flecks’ week in Longport include lots of free time, dinners at fine restaurants, a crabbing excursion, and a formal reception Sunday evening at Café Luciano in Seaview Harbor. Somewhere along the line, Longport Mayor Nick Russo will present Fleck with the key to the borough with the inscription, “Non Sibi, Sed Patriae,” “Not for Himself, But For His Country.”
Pacentrilli said every time he hears a weather forecast, it changes. He’s hoping it changes for the better and Florence decides to make a turn out to sea.
