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• Thursday, March 01, 2018

  Utica Post 229 Honors 100-year-old WWII Veteran

  

  John Loperfido

  UTICA – World War II veteran John Loperfido, who was part of the landing forces that stormed Omaha Beach on D-Day, turns 100 years old in March.

  The American Legion’s Utica Post 229 held a birthday party for him March 1 and honored him with the Senior Legionnaire of the Year Award.

  The honor took place during Post 229’s monthly meeting, which immediately followed dinner and a birthday celebration.

  Utica Post 229 Commander Jim George said Loperfido is a 59-year member of The American Legion and served as post commander from 1981 to 1982. In 2011 he was co-grand marshal for Utica’s Memorial Day Parade.

  “John truly is one of the greats from our ‘Greatest Generation’,” noted George.

  Loperfido served in the Army Air Corps from 1942 to 1946. Attached to the Amphibian 336th Engineer Combat Unit, Loperfido was part of the landing forces that stormed Omaha Beach on D-Day. He spent time in France, Belgium, Holland and Germany, coming within 50 miles of Berlin by the end of the war. He earned the Good Conduct Medal, WWII Victory Medal, European Theater Occupation Medal, and the French Croix De Guerre Medal.

  

  Despite the inclement weather, World War II vet John Loperfido attended Utica’s Veterans Day ceremonies in 2011 and rendered a salute at the age of 94. Utica Post 229 threw a 100th birthday party for him March 1, 2018. Photos by Robert Stronach.