‘A consummate volunteer and advocate’
Danbury veteran ‘humbled’ to be named to Connecticut Veterans Hall of Fame
“Brendan exemplifies the honorably serving veteran who then comes back and serves the community. He is that standout person that really inspires, I think, others to volunteer.” Tom Saadi, a Danbury resident and the state commissioner of veteran affairs
Brendan Sniffin was 14 when he stumbled upon an airfield behind his backyard. A man there gave him a ride on a Piper airplane, and he fell in love with flying. “You couldn’t keep me away from it,” 86-yearold Sniffin said. “When my parents were looking for me, I was flying over Oneida Lake.”
Sniffin served four years in the U.S. Air Force and has been the commander of the Korean War Veterans Association for 13 years. He was recognized for his military service and dedication to his community earlier this month when he was one of nine named to the Connecticut Veterans Hall of Fame.
The Danbury man doesn’t embrace the attention. “(I) felt humbled by it really, because I know so many guys that probably deserve it more than I do,” he said.
But his family and peers say the honor is well earned.
“Brendan exemplifies the honorably serving veteran who then comes back and serves the community,” said Tom Saadi, a Danbury resident and the state commissioner of veteran affairs. “He is that standout person that really inspires, I think, others to volunteer.”
He’s been “a consummate volunteer and advocate” for veterans and their families, as well as individuals with disabilities, Saadi said. Sniffin’s 62-year-old daughter has a disability.
Danbury’s deputy police chief nominated him
for the award in 2020 and 2021, collecting letters from community members, including former Mayor Mark Boughton, to show Sniffin’s dedication to the area.
Deputy Chief Shaun McColgan, a U.S. Navy veteran, has become friends with Sniffin by attending veterans events. McColgan recalled that when he worked the midnight shift, he saw Sniffin cleaning up garbage in Rogers Park at 4 a.m.
“To say he was deserving, in my opinion, that was an understatement,” McColgan said.
Sniffin has volunteered with so many organizations and community service efforts he couldn’t remember them all until they were written down for the award, he said. The resume McColgan sent the committee is three pages long.
He said he wants to help people, “and if anybody finds out about it, it doesn’t count.”
Military service
One of five siblings, Sniffin was born in Norwalk, but moved around a lot as a kid because of his father’s work. In Cicero, N.Y., he discovered flying.
His younger brother served in the U.S. Air Force, while his other younger brother was in the U.S. Army. His dad was a Marine in World War I, while some of his uncles served in World War II.
Sniffin joined the National Guard at 17 and the Air Force at 18 at the tail end of 1953. He reported to the Sampson Air Force Base in New York at the beginning of 1954 for basic training.
He was stationed in Washington state. His job was to fly troops and cargo, allowing him to travel to places like France. At one point, he was on temporary duty in Alaska, where he carried construction equipment for an early detection warning system to protect the United States from the Soviet Union, he said.
Sniffin didn’t serve in Korea. Fighting there had ended by July 1953, but Congress considered the end of the war to be in 1955.
He left the Air Force in 1957 and moved to Danbury, where his family lived. He soon met his wife, Shirley. They married in 1958 and have three children, three grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.
When they first married, Sniffin said “I had three jobs just to keep food on the table.”
He worked for Hoffman Energy for 37 years, but also worked at Barden Corporation, Fairfield Hills and Borden’s Dairy.
Aside from attending parades, he didn’t get involved in veterans organizations.
“I got to the point where I saw these guys going out, marching in Memorial Day parades and I felt a lot of them were getting older and everything,” Sniffin said. “Maybe it was time for me to do something for that. That’s when I got involved.”
Sniffin has advocated for bills to support veterans and was the main point of contact for the South Korean consulate general’s visit to Connecticut earlier this year, when an event was held recognizing Korean War veterans, Saadi said.
He’s been a member of the Catholic War Veterans since 1963, in addition to being part of the Sampson Air Force Base Veterans Association.
When members of the Korean War Veterans Association are sick, Sniffin and his wife have brought them homemade soup and bread.
“He did do a lot of community work, and he does it quietly,” said his wife, Shirley Sniffin.
Community service
His wife said they were inspired by their faith and their daughter to get involved in the community.
Through his daughter, he and his family volunteered with Special Olympics. He coached tennis and was invovled in the golf program.
At Board of Education meetings, they advocated for better services for students with disabilities, said Shirley Sniffin, who worked in special education in Danbury schools for 25 years.
They volunteered at Dorothy Day Hospitality House, a homeless shelter, where they served meals and spent the night with the clients. They helped with St. James Church’s turkey dinners and another event in Danbury where shoes were distributed on Thanksgiving day, he said.
He was an assistant Scoutmaster for Boy Scouts. After he retired, he volunteered at the St. John Paul II Center, a long-term care facility. He’s been a member of the Western Connecticut Association for Human Rights since its inception in 1977, in addition to serving on the Danbury Cemetery Association, among other organizations.
He scrubbed pots and pans at the Greater Danbury Irish Festival and was involved when the memorial Vietnam Wall came to Danbury, said his son, Brendan Sniffin, Jr.
“Every morning, my father would go down there and wipe the wall before all the visitors came,” he said.
His youngest son, Kevin Sniffin, said his father, who stopped drinking when Kevin was young, counseled people struggling with substance use.
Kevin Sniffin said his father has said he wanted to give back because he’s been privileged to have people who care for him. He described his dad as “principled” and taught him the importance of “integrity.”
“He’s kind of a really tough guy,” Kevin Sniffin said. “On the surface, he doesn’t show a lot of apparent empathy, but he’s pretty deep with that stuff. His actions speak that.”