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

A 102-year-old American World War II veteran died while traveling to Normandy, France, last week to attend a ceremony marking the 80th anniversary of D-Day, a veterans organization announced.

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 experienced a medical emergency. He was airlifted to a hospital in Germany and died shortly after, the organization Honor Flight Heroessaid in a statement.

“A great, humble man who served his country bravely without hesitation,” the organization said of Persichitti, who was involved in the Allied operation in Japan and witnessed the raising of the American flag over Iwo Jima.

A day before leaving for Europe, Persichitti spoke withRochester station WROC and expressed excitement 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 says ‘Yes, we’re going,’” he excitedly recalled.

Persichitti said he was in his cardiologist’s office when he got the invite and his doctor also urged him to go.

DeCarlo, who is a history teacher and in2019 traveled with Persichitti to the South Pacific,told station ABC affiliate WHAM that his 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 said. “She put his favorite singer, Frank Sinatra, on her phone and he peacefully left us.”

Nearly 500 people, including eight WWII veterans and a Holocaust survivor, traveled with the World War II Museum to Europe for the anniversary’s commemoration in Normandy, a museum spokesperson told HuffPost in an email Thursday. They expressed