A locally well-known World War II veteran who received worldwide attention when he embraced President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine at a D-Day anniversary celebration last year died Sunday at the age of 100.

According to The New York Times, Melvin Hurwitz was introduced to Zelenskyy by then-Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at a gathering at Omaha Beach in Normandy, France, to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the June 1944 D-Day invasion. The commemoration was held in June 2024.

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