World War II Army veteran Dominick Critelli, who fought at Normandy and in the Battle of the Bulge, wowed New York hockey fans by performing the National Anthem on his soprano saxophone at a Rangers-Islanders game on Saturday, at the age of 104.
Seated against the boards after staff assisted him to his chair, Critelli did not miss a note.
As he performed the anthem’s final climactic measures, the UBS Arena crowd roared with a thunderous approval.
Following the vet’s moving performance, fans broke into a deafening “U-S-A” chant.
Critelli served as a staff sergeant. He immigrated to the U.S. from Italy when he was a child.
“Critelli spent 151 days in combat during World War II, surviving the Battle of the Bulge and flying behind enemy lines to provide isolated American troops with much-needed supplies,” according to NHL.com.
“For his service, he’s earned the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with three Bronze Stars, the American Theater Medal, the WWII Victory Medal, and a Good Conduct Medal,” the NHL added.
Critelli saluted the crowd before he made his way off the ice.
Contributor Lowell Cauffiel is the best-selling author of Below the Line and nine other crime novels and nonfiction titles. See lowellcauffiel.com for more.