World War II veteran, 102, dies in Germany while traveling to France for D-Day ceremonies

A member of the Greatest Generation, Robert Persichitti, 102, was on his way to Normandy to attend D-Day 80th anniversary events. But he died in Germany a few days before they were held.

Robert Persichitti, a 102-year-old World War II veteran who served in the Pacific Theater, died May 31 while he was on the way to D-Day commemorative events in France to mark the 80th anniversary of the invasion.

Persichitti, who was born in Calumet, Pennsylvania, served in the U.S. Navy during World War II as a radioman on the command ship USS Eldorado, according to the New York State Senate's Veterans Hall of Fame. His tour of duty included combat in Iwo Jima, Okinawa and Guam.( )

A resident of Fairport, New York, Persichitti and his guardian Al DeCarlo flew overseas with a group organized by the National World War II Museum and arrived in Germany, according to the Honor Flight Heroes organization. They were on a ship headed to Normandy when Persichitti had a medical emergency and had to be airlifted to a hospital in Germany where he died shortly thereafter on Friday, the organization said.( )

The doctor was with him. He was not alone, he was at peace and he was comfortable," DeCarlo told WHAM 13, an ABC affiliate in Rochester, N.Y. "She put his favorite singer, Frank Sinatra, on her phone and he peacefully left us."( )

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