Robert Persichitti, of Fairport, NY, passed away in a hospital in Germany last Friday after suffering a medical emergency, a veterans organization said. He was 102.
A 102-year-old American World War II veteran who witnessed the raising of the US flag at Iwo Jima tragically died while he was en route to France to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings.
Robert Persichitti, of Fairport, NY, suffered a medical emergency and died in a hospital in Germany last Friday, a veterans organization said.
The Navy vet, who had flown oversees with a group tied to the National World War II Museum, was on a ship sailing down the coast to Normandy ahead of Thursday’s D-Day events when he suddenly fell ill and had to be airlifted to the hospital.
He was among the dwindling number of surviving US veterans who were making the pilgrimage to the Normandy beaches this week to mark the anniversary of the June 6, 1944 invasion that helped bring about the end of World War II.
“I’m really excited to be going,” Persichitti, who had a history of heart problems, had told WROC-TV a day before setting off.
