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Keyword: elmermelchi

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  • D-Day Vet Goes on Final Jump

    01/31/2016 10:42:12 AM PST · by beaversmom · 14 replies
    Pueblo Chieftain ^ | January 28, 2016 | Peter Roper
    By Peter Roper The Pueblo Chieftain Published: January 28, 2016; Last modified: January 28, 2016 11:01PM Elmer Melchi survived parachuting into Normandy on D-Day and he survived jumping into Holland in Operation Market Garden -- although a German soldier shot him when the young 82nd Airborne paratrooper tried to escape from a POW camp. But death finally caught up with the tough 92-year-old veteran Thursday afternoon, taking him in his sleep at the Sangre de Cristo Hospice here. It was expected. Melchi had cancer and knew he was dying. "My dad went for his last jump," said a tearful...