On Thursday, President Donald Trump hosted an honorary celebration for four World War II veterans.
The festivities took place at the Oval Office and among those present included 95-year-old Allen Jones of Dunbar, Pa., 101-year-old Floyd Wigfield of Cumberland, Md., 100-year-old Sidney Walton of San Diego, Calif., and 103-year-old Paul Kriner of Chambersburg, Pa, the Associated Press reported.
Trump defined the men as “great heroes, great warriors, highly respected.”
Watch a clip of the celebration below:
Last year at a Veterans of Foreign Wars convention, Jones met President Trump and requested to spend his next birthday with the President. Trump gladly obliged and extended the invitation to three other World War II veterans who were 100 -years-old or older.
At the June ceremony marking the 75th anniversary of D-Day and the Battle of Normandy, Trump promised Wigfield a return flight on Air Force One.
“We’ll work that out,” Trump told him. “You’ll like Air Force One.”
Walton was a medic in the war. He indicated to Trump that he wanted to fight Adolph Hitler and that prompted him to join the Army. Trump told him, “That was a good reason.”
One of the men, 101-year-old Floyd Wigfield, managed to win a promise from the president for a return flight on Air Force One following this June’s ceremony marking the 75th anniversary of D-Day and the Battle of Normandy. https://t.co/zTI5B3TmUr
— Stars and Stripes (@starsandstripes) April 12, 2019
Despite being a centenarian, Walton is on a mission that his family dubbed the “No Regrets Tour.” During the tour, Walton will visit every state in the U.S. and also the White House to teach Americans about World War II veterans.
Kriner told President Trump that he spent 517 days in combat. Trump complimented Kriner by saying he didn’t look a day over 90.
Kriner and Wigfield are part of the Greatest Generations Foundation. The purpose of the foundation is to offer vets the chance to share their war stories and return to the place they served in hopes of finding some closure.
Trump recently honored several other World War II veterans.
In his February State of the Union speech, Trump honored First Class Joseph Reilly, Staff Sergeant Irving Locker and Sergeant Herman Zeitchik, veterans who served in World War II and on D-Day, Military.com reported.
At the time, Trump said, “In June, we mark 75 years since the start of what General Dwight D. Eisenhower called the Great Crusade — the Allied liberation of Europe in World War II. On D-Day, June 6, 1944, 15,000 young American men jumped from the sky, and 60,000 more stormed in from the sea, to save our civilization from tyranny. Here with us tonight are three of those heroes. Gentlemen, we salute you.”
