( NYPost )
A 102-year-old American World War II veteran who witnessed the raising of the US flag at Iwo Jima 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 overseas 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.
In his final moments, Persichitti had listened to his favorite singer, Frank Sinatra, his friend and travel companion Al DeCarlo told 13WHAM.
“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.”
Persichitti had served in Iwo Jima, Okinawa and Guam as a radioman second class on the command ship USS Eldorado during WWII.
He was among the US troops who witnessed the raising of the American flag atop Mount Suribachi on Iwo Jima on Feb. 19, 1945 — a moment that would go on to become one of the most famous photos captured during the war.
“I was on the deck,” Persichitti told Stars and Stripes in a 2019 interview when he returned to the region. “When I got on the island today, I just broke down.”
In the interview, he recalled some of the horrors he witnessed from the Eldorado — including injured Marines being brought aboard the ship and countless burials at sea.
“When they made the landing, they started losing all these guys,” Persichitti said at the time. “It wasn’t a very good sight.”
Persichitti had previously revealed in interviews that he paid his respects to his fallen comrades every Friday — not just on commemorative days.
“I wear a red sleeveless T-shirt … Every Friday, I put that red on, to represent all the blood that was lost during World War II,” he said.
After the war, Persichitti became a public school teacher in Rochester. When he retired, he continued visiting school kids to speak with them about the war.
“It was a privilege to know him, and I will miss him. He had a real zest for living,” said Pastor William Leone, who was friends with Persichitti for four decades.
“He would go visit children in the grammar schools in the area, talk with them about his experiences growing up, his experiences during the Second World War.”
Persichitti was named to the New York state Senate’s Veterans Hall of Fame in 2020.
Comments