DUNEDIN, Fla — As time continues to pass, more and more veterans of some of our nation’s oldest conflicts are dying.
According to the The Department of Veterans Affairs approximately66,000 WWII veterans still living.
"A total of 16.4 million Americans served during the war. More than 400,000 were killed in action or died of other causes during the conflict. The latest number represents a substantial decline from the more than 119,000 veterans of the war the VA estimated were living in 2023," according to the VA.
To honor the brave soldiers who fought in WWII, Korea, and Vietnam, members of VFW Post 2550 in Dunedin held a birthday party for several veterans.
ABC Action News reporter Michael Paluska talked to the veterans sitting around the table enjoying the breezy Florida afternoon.
The veterans celebrate birthdays within 40 days of each other.
ABC Action News reporter Michael Paluska asked O’Neil Ducharme, 100, what he wanted people to know about the celebration.
“When you are with veterans, they are all brothers and all sisters, and we watch each other’s backs,” Ducharme said.
For Korean War veteran Alan Elfman, 93, the VFW and other soldiers are all he has left.
“I don’t have anybody here except here,” Elfman said. “If it wasn’t for them, I don’t know what I would do.”
Two veterans at the celebration were 101-year-old Robert Boulet and Bob Russell.
Paluska asked Russell what he wanted people to know about the war.
“Lucky that you got out of it and remember the people you lost,” Bob Russell, 101, told Paluska.
Russell was a fighter pilot. While flying on a mission to support the Battle of the Bulge, he was shot down.
This year—2025—marks the 80th anniversary of the end of the war, and the youngest WWII veterans are now approaching a century old.
In less than two months, more than 100 people have contacted the ABC Action News I-Team, saying they are stuck waiting on unemployment benefits and are growing more desperate by the day.
