June 6 Article in USA Today

My bucket list would comprise all of the places where my father saw combat while aboard his destroyer during WW II: Guadalcanal, Kwajalein, Eniwetok, Palau, Saipan, the Bonin Islands, the Marianas (during turkey season), the Philippines, Guam and Iwo Jima.

[Before he boarded her, his ship - DD 398 USS Ellet - also saw action during the Doolittle raid of Japan, at Midway, Tulagi and Savo Island.] Collectively Ellet saw action in a who's who of combat in the central Pacific theater. Ellet screened for the Big E the entire time.

So far, I've been to the Marianas, the Philippines, Guam and Japan. Probably won't ever get to the rest of them.

HOW SAD

"World War II veteran Robert Persichitti from Fairport died while traveling to Normandy, France on Friday for a ceremony marking the 80th anniversary of D-Day. He was 102 years old."
Thank you for your service, sir.

Greetings, everyone, from Les Veys in Normandy France! Tomorrow at 10:30am will be my first jump to commemorate the 80th anniversary of D-Day. Our Round Canopy Parachuting Team - USA will jump from the same C-47s as our brother paratroopers did 80 years ago. Our drop zone is the Batterie d'Azeville at 1030hrs. It's gonna be an exciting and emotional moment in my life. Lest we never forget! Airborne!
-- Col. Allen West

Wyandot Jim said:

HOW SAD

"World War II veteran Robert Persichitti from Fairport died while traveling to Normandy, France on Friday for a ceremony marking the 80th anniversary of D-Day. He was 102 years old."
Thank you for your service, sir.

View attachment 47223

Click to expand...

This is going to be the last hurrah for most of these men. They deserve the very best and I hope that they all enjoy themselves to the fullest. They truly are the greatest.