Nicholas Rossi, 99, was beaming today as he served as the Westport Memorial Day Parade Grand Marshal.

Born on Long Island in 1922 and graduating Oyster Bay High School in 1940, Rossi enlisted in the United States Army Air Corps in 1942 at the age of 19. He joined the 8th Air Force Bomber Command as a Technical Sergeant, working as a gunner on the infamous B-17 aircrafts over occupied Europe. By the end of the War, the 8th Army Air Force accounted for half of the Army Air Forces' casualties in World War II - with more than 47,000 casualties and more than 26,000 lost.

Rossi’s grandson Nick Rossi, 19, spoke on behalf of his grandfather today during the Memorial Day Ceremonies following the parade. “When he enlisted, he was 19 years old - the same age that I am right now.” Nick described. “It is unimaginable to me what it must have felt like to go off to war as a young man who had barely begun to live his life. It was a selfless sacrifice - not even a choice at that point in time - but an expectation that that generation of young men would enlist and serve their country.” he continued as his grandfather looked to him at the podium. “He became an expert on the B-17 aircraft.”

First Selectman Jim Marpe described the brave acts that Rossi performed during the war, adding that he was a “relative newcomer to Westport and an active member of our Senior Center.” After Rossi’s wife passed away, he moved to the Westport community with his son Paul Rossi, his wife Marguerite, and their three children.