Brunswick man who never considered becoming a Legionnaire to now lead state chapter

Tom Cerniglia never planned to become a Legionnaire.

Though he served in the U.S. Navy and was active in the community, he didn’t think he was eligible for membership.

“I never served overseas,” Cerniglia explained.

Then in 2012, he was serving as president of the Brunswick Newcomers Club when friends and fellow newcomers Don Maguire and Rick Sessa approached him about forming an American Legion Post. After learning he was eligible for membership, Cerniglia was on board.

“There are these things called opportunities,” he said. “Sometimes you seize them, and sometimes, you let them go.”

Cerniglia joined Maguire, Sessa and 13 others as founding members of Richard H. Stewart, Jr. Post 543 in St. James.

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Since then, Cerniglia has gone on to found two others posts in Brunswick County — Post 551 in Southport where he currently serves as second vice-commander and Post 550 in Shallotte — served as district commander, and now serves as the Commander of the Department of North Carolina, which oversees the various posts within the state.

His longtime partner, Helenea Grace, said compared to most of the organization’s members, Cerniglia has only been a member for 13 years.

“That’s considered like a newbie,” Grace said.

She said most members of the organization have been active for decades.

“It amazes me — and many others as well — how Tom came from no place, and he rose through the ranks, not because he lobbied for it,” she said.

Cerniglia had only been with the organization for about two years when someone approached him about running for the district commander position, promising that he would love it.

“What they didn’t tell me was the amount of work it took to be a district commander,” Cerniglia said with a chuckle.

Cerniglia said he’s honored his fellow Legionnaires have placed their trust in him, and he’s more grateful for the work he gets to do promoting the organization and its programs. While he enjoys working with the youth programs, including Boys State, Girls State, Legion Baseball, Boy Scouts, Junior ROTC and the Americanism oratorical contest, there’s one cause very close to his heart: working with veterans.

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“When you become exposed to the Department (of North Carolina), you realize there are needs,” Cerniglia explained.

To help military veterans and their families, Cerniglia put together a committee to host the first Veterans Experience Action Center in North Carolina at American Legion Post 10 in Wilmington. Despite having no money that first year, the event became a success, and now seven years later, the event serves about 900 veterans, with about 25 percent of attendees coming from out-of-state. As a result, the initiative has now spread to 11 other states.

“If you average it out over seven years, you figure we’ve helped close to 5,000 veterans,” he said.

Cerniglia admits he has become emotionally invested in many of the veterans and their families, and he is already looking forward to the next event, scheduled for sometime in May 2025.

“I can tell you, if I do nothing else — because this all goes away in a year,” he said, of his new position, “but if I do nothing else, it will be my dying breath making that thing continue.”

This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: Brunswick man who never considered becoming a Legionnaire to now lead state chapter