A 94-year-old World War II veteran is among the oldest members of a squad charged with offering deceased service members their final salutes.
Quentin De Nio is a flag bearer, part of the Memorial Rifle Squad at Minneapolis’ Fort Snelling National Cemetery that has been providing final salutes since 1979, the Star Tribune reports.
De Nio came to Minneapolis from his hometown of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, in 1939 for a summer job at his father’s insurance company.
He met his wife, Virginia, got married in 1941, and two weeks later was drafted into the Army, according to the paper.
De Nio arrived in Hawaii three months after the attack on Pearl Harbor, and saw action on Saipan and Okinawa.
He’s now the second-oldest among the dozens of buglers, riflemen and flag bearers who make up the Memorial Rifle Squad, and on a recent Friday served as flag bearer at 10 services.
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