WWII Veteran Dies At 102 While Traveling To D-Day Event In France | EUROtoday

A 102-year-old American World War II veteran died whereas touring to Normandy, France, final week to attend a ceremony marking the eightieth anniversary of D-Day, a veterans group introduced.

Navy veteran Robert “Al” Persichitti, of Rochester, New York, was aboard a ship heading to the coast of Normandy from Germany on Friday when he skilled a medical emergency. He was airlifted to a hospital in Germany and died shortly after, the group Honor Flight Heroes stated in an announcement.

“A great, humble man who served his country bravely without hesitation,” the group stated of Persichitti, who was concerned within the Allied operation in Japan and witnessed the elevating of the American flag over Iwo Jima.

A day earlier than leaving for Europe, Persichitti spoke with Rochester station WROC and expressed pleasure about his travels, which the World War II Museum in New Orleans reportedly sponsored.

“I got a hold of my friend that went to Iwo Jima with me, Al DeCarlo, and he said 'Yes, we're going,'” he excitedly recalled.

Persichitti stated he was in his heart specialist's workplace when he obtained the invite and his physician additionally urged him to go.

DeCarlo, who’s a historical past trainer and in 2019 traveled with Persichitti to the South Pacific, informed station ABC affiliate WHAM that his good friend was not alone when he died.

“The doctor was with him. He was not alone, he was at peace and he was comfortable,” DeCarlo stated. “She put his favorite singer, Frank Sinatra, on her phone and he peacefully left us.”

In a 2022 sit-down interview, Persichitti recalled enlisting after the 1941 assault on Pearl Harbor after which crusing to the Pacific, the place he joined the 1945 Battle of Iwo Jima in Japan.

“You could hardly see it, from the smoke that was happening on that island, and you'd think nothing would survive,” he stated in his recorded interview with WWII historian Rishi Sharma. “I told myself, you guys are going in. I don’t know how many are coming back.”

It was whereas standing on the deck of his command ship, the USS Eldorado, that he stated he witnessed the American flag being raised over Mt. Suribachi in a second that was captured in one of the well-known pictures of the Second World War.

“Joe was aboard our ship. He was the one who brought that flag from aboard our ship,” he stated of Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal, who snapped the long-lasting picture.

Persichitti was named an honoree of New York State Senate's Veterans Hall of Fame in 2020 for his life's work. After serving as a radioman within the Navy, he labored as a carpentry trainer and later gave talks with native college students about his life experiences and function in WWII, resulting in his friendship with DeCarlo, in line with the New York Senate's web site.

He revealed his autobiography, “Bob's Book: Building an American Life,” in 2015.