Annual Branford Veterans Day Parade Set For Sunday Nov. 6

BRANFORD, CT — The annual Branford Veterans Day Parade will be held on Sunday, Nov. 6.

A ceremony will be held on the Branford Green at 1 p.m., and the parade will step off at 1:30 p.m.

Participating in this year's parade will be the Stony Creek Fife and Drum Corps, the Branford
High School Band, the Branford Town Band and the Col. John Chester Fife and Drum Corps
from Wethersfield.

“We are pleased that the Col. John Chester Fife and Drum Corps will be part of this year's parade”, Veterans Parade Committee chair Bill O'Brien said. “They were formed in 1940 and are the oldest continuously active Jr Ancient Fife and Drum Corps in Connecticut,"

The group marched last month in the Stony Creek Muster Parade.

Military units include Veterans of Foreign Wars Post #12106, Corcoran-Sundquist Post #83 American Legion, 2nd Company Governors Foot Guard and Take a Vet Fishing. Also marching will be town and state Officials, Branford Garden Club, various Scout groups, antique and vintage cars, Branford Elks Lodge #1939 and members of the Stella Marris Council 10 of the Knights of Columbus.

The sound system will be provided by Dennis Nardella.

Memorial ceremonies will be held at the Town's seven cemeteries beginning at 9 a.m. Ceremonies will include half-masting the American flag, the laying of wreaths, taps and a rifle salute. There will also be a Naval Remembrance Service on the South Montowese Street bridge at 12:15 p.m. The Naval Prayer will be given by Capt. John Fitzgerald, USCG (Ret) and vocalist Lia Whitten will sing at both the Naval Service and the remembrance ceremony that follows on the Branford Town Green.

In case of inclement weather, ceremonies will be moved to the Branford High School gym beginning at 1 p.m.

About Grand Marshal CPL Jack Dougherty, USMC

The Grand Marshal and speaker for this year's parade will be Purple Heart recipient CPL Jack Dougherty, USMC, of Branford.

Dougherty currently serves as the Senior Vice Commander and Judge Advocate for Branford's Post 83 of the American Legion. He holds life memberships in the VFW, Disabled American Veterans, Military Order of the Purple Heart, and the Marine Corps League. He’s spent six years as the department finance officer in the Military Order of the Purple Heart. And over the past 18 years, he’s held every elected and appointed position in the Marine Corps League both at the department and detachment levels.

His Marine Corps service includes a 1966 Parris Island graduation as the platoon honor man and served in South Vietnam as an infantry squad leader with the Thundering Third (Lima 3d Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment 3rd MarDiv). In 1968, Marine Dougherty was medically retired due to wounds received under hostile enemy fire in Quang Tri province. He was awarded the Purple Heart.

Serving with the Marine Corps League, he was his detachment’s first Marine of the Year in 2006. He was also the 2008 Department of CT Marine of the Year and received the first Ronald G. Knapp Award at the division level of the league. In 2009, at the Marine Corps League 86th national convention, Marine Dougherty was the first marine from the state of Connecticut to be selected as the National Marine of the year. That same year, he was inducted into the Connecticut Veteran's Hall of Fame. He is the first member of the Marine Corps League to have received such an honor.

Jack is married with five children and five grandchildren. He holds a bachelor of science degree in mechanical engineering from the New Jersey Institute of Technology and an MBA from the University of New Haven. He has been retired from Schulz Electric since 2019.