West Haven Memorial Day Parade 2021

Grand Marshals Frank J. Corso and Mike Pimer steered West Haven’s Memorial Day parade Monday morning, May 31, from a golf cart driven by city Human Resources Commissioner Beth A. Sabo. Corso, an Army Air Forces veteran of World War II in 1942-45, and Pimer, a Navy veteran who served stateside in 1955-61 and again in 1962-68, led the 40-unit procession of veterans, bands and dignitaries, including Mayor Nancy R. Rossi and other city officials, along Campbell Avenue. The parade stepped from Captain Thomas Boulevard north to Center Street, where throngs of people lined the 1 ½-mile course, American flags waving, for the annual patriotic march. Corso, who turns 100 in July, and Pimer, 83, were tapped by the West Haven Veterans Council, which helps the city organize the parade, for their years of service to the military, their fellow vets and their community. The hourlong parade featured a dramatic flyover by a C-130 Hercules, a four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft operated by the Connecticut Air National Guard. The event, in memory of the deceased members of the U.S. armed forces of all wars, is the oldest parade of its kind in southern Connecticut. A wreath-laying ceremony followed the parade at the World War I Armistice Memorial on the Green.