(above) Peter Braun, a Mountainside resident, served as Westfield Memorial Day Parade Grand Marshal for 2017.
The annual Westfield Memorial Day Parade was set to be held on Monday, May 29, 2017. It was canceled due to inclement weather. The Parade is sponsored by the American Legion Martin Wallberg Post #3 and the Town of Westfield. Peter Braun was chosen to serve as this year’s Grand Marshal. Duty, honor and country are not just words to a West Point graduate. They are a way of life! Born in Philadelphia, Peter moved to Westfield with his family in 1948. He attended school here and graduated Westfield High School in 1961. His sport of choice during high school was football. Peter attended prep school at the Manlius School in upstate New York. He was accepted into the U.S. Military Academy at West Point where he graduated in 1966. At West Point he lettered in football. As a key member of the West Point football team he is most proud of Army’s win against Navy in the 1964 Army Navy game. The Navy Team was led by its Heisman Trophy winning quarterback Roger Staubach. This stunning victory by Army made headlines across the country. Five of the Army starters played both offense and defense. A book published in 2014 written by Nicolaus Mills, “Every Army Man is with You” tells the story of this memorable victory, the men who made it happen and their path from the gridiron to the Vietnam War then home again.
Peter served at Fort Carson in Colorado, and then went to Quang Tri Province in Vietnam where he was an advisor to the South Vietnam Military. His final year in the service he became an assistant football coach at West Point.
After serving his country, he left the service in 1970 at the rank of Captain to start his civilian career.
Peter currently resides in Mountainside with his wife of twelve years, Lucille. Peter’s brother, Michael, is an attorney in Chicago and his sister, Shelley, is a retired school teacher in Bridgewater, New Jersey. Peter has three children, Christina, Lindsey and Heather.
Peter began his career in institutional equities with Bear Stern where he focused on national money managers. He retired from there in 2010 as a managing director. Peter is currently associated with Financial Capital Management in business development.
To use Peter’s words “I am deeply humbled to be selected as this year’s Grand Marshal honoring the men and women veterans who made the supreme sacrifice for the freedoms we, Americans, hold so dearly.”
