Robert “Al” Persichitti, celebrated for his service in the Pacific theater, died in a German hospital after falling ill on a ship crossing the North Sea.
An American Navy veteran who was there when U.S. troops raised the flag on Iwo Jima in 1945 has died while en route to France to make Thursday’s 80th anniversary of D-Day.
Robert “Al” Persichitti from Rochester, New York, was 102 years old. He passed away in a German hospital on May 31 after being airlifted from a ship sailing to Europe, according to his veteran organization, Honor Flight.
Persichitti was traveling with the National World War II Museum Group to participate in the commemoration of the historic Allied invasion of Normandy, France. “I was really excited to go to Normandy,” he told his hometown news outlets before his departure, despite having a history of heart problems.
Al DeCarlo, a friend who was traveling with Persichitti, told a Rochester TV station that Persichitti fell ill while aboard a ship in the North Sea.
