Escorted out in front of more than 18,000 fans, 104-year-old Dominick Critelli took his seat, settled his soprano saxophone, and began to play “The Star-Spangled Banner.”
Dominick is a World War II Army veteran. As a staff sergeant, he survived the Battle of the Bulge, one of the biggest battles of the war. He came to America from Italy when he was 8 years old, and he has been playing the saxophone since he was 13.
He had played in front of big crowds before. But this time, he said, it was personal.
“I lost a lot of friends,” he said. “I’m doing this for them.”
As the notes rang out, the arena filled with chants of “U-S-A! U-S-A!” But Dominick was concentrating so hard that he didn’t even hear them. When he was told later, he laughed. “Oh my God, I missed that!”
He still practices for an hour every day at his home in Floral Park, New York. Outside, an American flag waves above a sign that reads, “A proud veteran lives here.”
“Is there any better song to play than ‘The Star-Spangled Banner’?” he asked. “Beautiful, you put your heart in it.”
He said he wants young people to remember the words “the land of the free,” because they matter.
At 104, he is still serving his country, one note at a time.
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