Weeks before his 95th birthday, a proud World War II veteran finally received the validation he coveted for years. Isidore “Teddy” Bertone was officially sworn in as a citizen of the United States, eight decades after moving stateside from Italy and serving in the U.S. Navy.
The signing of the papers, undertaken in his daughter’s backyard in the presence of family on Aug. 25, was enough to move the veteran to tears. “Thank you all and God bless you [...] God bless America,” he gushed, reports the Staten Island Advance.
