A 102-year-old World War II U.S. Navy veteran died on Friday while traveling to Normandy, France, to participate in a D-Day memorial event, the honor flight organization he belonged to announced.
Robert Persichitti passed away “peacefully” after experiencing a medical emergency while aboard a ship sailing to Normandy after flying overseas to Europe, Honor Flight Rochester President Richard Stewart said in a statement that the New York Times obtained.
Persichitti, who personally witnessed the raising of the U.S. flag at Iwo Jima, hailed from Fairport, New York, and was among the dwindling number of D-Day veterans.
The veteran had a history of heart problems, but he told WROC-TV that his cardiologist encouraged him to go the day before he left.
“I’m really excited to be going,” Persichitti told the local CBS affiliate.
After suffering from an apparent medical event on board the ship, he was airlifted to a hospital in Germany, WHEC 10 reported.
“He died peacefully, and he did not die alone,” Stewart said.
Pershichitti’s friend, Al DeCarlo, who was traveling with him, said his companion was “comfortable” when he passed.
“The doctor was with him. He was not alone. He was at peace, and he was comfortable,” DeCarlo told 13WHAM. “She put his favorite singer, Frank Sinatra, on her phone, and he peacefully left us.”
The eightieth anniversary of the Allied invasion of Normandy is on Thursday. U.S. President Joe Biden, French President Emmanuel Macron, Britain’s King Charles III, and other world leaders will be in attendance.
Stewart said that Persichitti remained active, even at 102 years old.
“He was fit and upright and got around and had the complete faculties of someone who would be decades younger,” he said. “He was really something.”