A 96-year-old World War II veteran from Massachusetts traveled nearly 900 miles to South Carolina to pay tribute to the man who saved his life 76 years ago.
At the beginning of the year, Private Anthony Grasso, from Norwood, discovered where Lt. Frank DuBose had been laid to rest.
DuBose gave his life for his comrade, shielding him from a shell blast during the Battle of Hurtgenforest along the Belgian-German border in 1944.
DuBose, however, took the brunt of the blast and was killed, earning him a posthumous Silver Star for diverting enemy fire.
On May 27, Grasso set out to pay his respects by visiting DuBose’s grave at Quaker Cemetery in Camden, South Carolina. He was accompanied by several family members.
Norwood residents, bearing American flags, sent him off in grand fashion; he received a bagpipe tribute, and police escorted him to Boston’s Logan Airport.
Grasso’s story was retold in the book “All Souls Day,” which inspired several New Englanders to help him pay tribute to the fallen serviceman. They stated that veterans of that time are increasingly becoming fewer in number.
The book’s author, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Joseph Pereira, was the man who helped Grasso locate the grave.
“It is very cathartic for him. It is a lifetime of grief and sorrow just lifting off his shoulders.”