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

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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World War II veteran saw raising of flag at Iwo Jima

Persichitti witnessed U.S. troops raising the American flag atop Mount Suribachi on Iwo Jima on Feb. 19, 1945. "I was on deck that day when I watched them raise the flag twice," he said during an interview in 2020 conducted by historian Rishi Sharma and posted on Facebook.

Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal missed the first flag raising because he was still climbing up the mountain, according to Military.com. He captured the moment when Marines raised another flag, the site says.

In 2019, Persichitti returned to Iwo Jima and Mount Suribachi with the National World War II Museum. “When I got on the island today, I just broke down," he told Stars and Stripes at the time.

He then recalled the many burials at sea he witnessed and the horrific injuries his fellow Marines were inflicted with. “When they made the landing, they started losing all these guys,” he said. “It wasn’t a very good sight."

Persichitti "really was in the midst of things as a junior radio operator on the command ship, or you might call it a flagship, charged with the attack on Iwo Jima and Okinawa," Richard Stewart, president of the Honor Flight Rochester, a veterans organization Persichitti belonged to, told USA TODAY.

Active in the American Legion and Honor Flight, Persichitti "was really a very pleasant type of guy who did not try to make a big footprint, but by who he was, he influenced all of us and, and brought out better things in us and the people around him than any of us could have imagined," Stewart said.

Persichitti grew up during the Great Depression and worked in the Civilian Conservation Corps, according to the New York State Senate's Veterans Hall of Fame, which he was inducted into in 2020.

He volunteered to serve in the Navy, he told journalist Jasmine Willis in 2021. "I needed to bring in some money to support my family," because his father had passed away, he said.

After serving in the military, Persichitti was a school teacher in the Rochester City School District. His wife of 64 years, Elgina, died in 2012. In 2015, he authored the autobiography "Bob's Book: Building An American Life."

After he retired from teaching, Persichitti continued to visit classrooms to relate his World War II stories. “It shouldn’t be forgotten,” he told WXII News, a National Public Radio station in Rochester, N.Y., last month.

Looking back during the 2020 interview with Sharma, Persichitti said, "I had a good time on that ship. I had good friends," he said. "I had them until they were gone. We had good reunions and everything, so I think I chose the right ship."

Follow Mike Snider on X and Threads: @mikesnider & mikegsnider.

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