American WWII Vet Dies En Route to D-Day Event

An American veteran of World War II died after traveling to Europe to mark the 80th anniversary of the D-Day invasion by Allied troops, reports the New York Times. Robert Persichitti, 102, suffered a medical emergency on Friday while aboard a ship headed for Normandy, France, and died later at a hospital in Germany, reports WHEC 10, a TV station in his hometown of Rochester, New York. "He died peacefully, and he did not die alone," said Richard Stewart, president of the vets' group Honor Flight Rochester.

A friend traveling with him, Al DeCarlo, tells 13WHAM that the doctor treating him played Frank Sinatra, Persichitti's favorite singer, on her phone for him as he died. Persichitti served in the Navy during the war, and he witnessed the iconic raising of the flag at Iwo Jima from the deck of his ship, the USS Eldorado. He served as a radioman on the ship in Okinawa and Guam as well as Iwo Jima, according to Stars and Stripes. Persichitti's medical emergency was not specified, but he had a history of heart trouble. (More D-Day stories.)