lit a candle 5d agoMy dad used to point him out at the Union Grove ceremonies every Memorial Day, the guy from the Guard who never sat down during the names. Read this on my phone at the kitchen table and just sat there a minute. 81.
Their story
Robert James Dougherty was a Vietnam War combat veteran and longtime Wisconsin National Guard soldier whose decades of military service were honored with some of the Army's highest combat decorations. He died on October 19, 2026, in Port Charlotte, Florida, at the age of 81, after a long battle with…
Robert James Dougherty was a Vietnam War combat veteran and longtime Wisconsin National Guard soldier whose decades of military service were honored with some of the Army's highest combat decorations. He died on October 19, 2026, in Port Charlotte, Florida, at the age of 81, after a long battle with cancer.
Dougherty was born on July 2, 1945, in Dekalb, Illinois, to Omar Gray Dougherty and Benice (Wenman) Dougherty. He grew up in Salem, Wisconsin, where he attended Central High School and was a three sport athlete, playing football, running track and playing basketball on a team that won a championship during the 1962 to 1963 season.
After graduating in 1963, Dougherty enlisted in the United States Army and was sent to serve in the Vietnam War. His service there earned him the Combat Infantryman Badge, the Vietnam Service Medal with three Bronze Service Stars, the Vietnam Gallantry Cross with Palm, two National Defense Service Medals and numerous other honors. He was honorably discharged on September 18, 1970. Rather than leave military life behind, he went on to join the Wisconsin National Guard, where he served for decades, rising through the ranks and earning further distinctions and promotions before retiring honorably with the rank of First Sergeant in July 2005.
Beyond his military career, Dougherty was known in his community as a committed and lifelong member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW), and reports describe him as having continued to volunteer actively almost up until his death. His life was defined by sustained public service, first in combat and later in support of fellow veterans at home.
News of his death was confirmed through an obituary published by a Wisconsin funeral notice service in late October 2026, which detailed his military record, his Florida residence at the time of his death and his wish to be interred at the Southern Wisconsin Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Union Grove, Wisconsin. No public statements from family members accompanied the initial notice, and further details about survivors have not yet been made public.
Biography adapted from News reports and the sources cited on this page; death reported by Legacy | Obituary.
Those ceremonies won't be the same without him.