Robert Persichitti, a 102-year-old WWII veteran, passed away while traveling to France for the 80th Anniversary of D-Day event, a veteran organization has confirmed.
Persichitti, from Fairport, New York, had served in WWII as a radioman aboard the USS Eldorado. He witnessed the raising of the U.S. flag on Iwo Jima in 1945.
Honor Flight Rochester, a veterans group that supported the WWII veteran’s past commemorative trips, issued a statement to PEOPLE.
“Bob flew on Honor Flight Rochester Mission #29 in June 2013 to the memorials in Washington, D.C.,” the veterans organization’s president and CEO, Richard Stewart, shared in the statement. “He was a great friend to all of us since our hub’s founding in 2008 and a very active participant in our many activities and events.”
Stewart continued to speak about the WWII veteran by stating, “In particular, Bob welcomed home at the Rochester Airport each returning mission filled with our aging heroes. Bob will be sorely missed.”
The organization further revealed that Persichitti and a companion, Al DeCarlo, were traveling to the D-Day event with the National World War II Museum Group.
Just before he left on the trip, Persichitti told Rochester First that he was really excited about the trip.
The WWII Veteran Suffered a ‘Medical Emergency’ Was Sailing on the Coast of Normandy
After arriving in Europe, the group sailed down the coast of Normandy. However, Persichitti suffered a “medical emergency” and was flown to a French hospital.
Honor Flight Rochester’s CEO confirmed that Persichitti died peacefully. “He did not die alone,” Stewart said. “He was fit and upright and got around, and had the complete faculties of someone who would be decades younger.”
New York station WHAM also reports that DeCarlo when Persichitti became ill, the doctor was with him. “He was comfortable. She put his favorite singer, Frank Sinatra, on her phone and he peacefully left us.”
DeCarlo then spoke about Persichitti’s time in the military. “He was a radio man on a communications ship off the coast of Iwo Jima and Okinawa,” he explained. “He met another radio man, I think he was from the Army, and they were chatting about things from 80 years ago. It was amazing to watch.”
Pastor William Leone, who had been friends with the WWII veteran for nearly 50 years, shared a special tribute. “It was a privilege to know him,” Leone said. “And I will miss him. He had a real zest for living. 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.”