New Yorker Constantine Iannacone has been leading the World War II Memorial Day parade from his scooter for many years.
But the 93-year-old WWII veteran was disheartened when this year’s procession was cancelled due to heavy rain. He didn’t feel that way for long, though. That’s because 11-year-old Nicholas DeGregoio arrived on the scene with his trumpet.
“Nicholas was disappointed that the parade had been cancelled,” his mum Mary told Today. “He had been practising for weeks with his school’s band, and so we decided to have our own parade.”
As the family drove along the parade route, young Nicholas treated passersby to some tunes out the car window.
When they reached the end of the route, they came across Carol Ann Iannacone, the daughter of WWII veteran, Constantine.
“I asked them if the parade had been cancelled,” she told Today. “My father was coming with his driver and I knew he would be disappointed.”
When Constantine finally arrived, he was delighted to meet Nicholas, who didn’t hesitate to play George M Cohan’s ‘You’re a Grand Old Flag’ for the old man.
Constantine was over the moon, clapping along and saluting the youngster.
“Nicholas just wanted to make him happy,” Mary said.
The very next day, Constantine had a fall, breaking his pelvis. He has now taken up residency at Saint Albans Community Living Center in New York.
But Nicholas enjoyed playing music for Constantine so much that he wants to branch out – he hopes to play at retirement homes in the future.
Looks like these two will cross each other’s paths again.
Below is the video of Nicholas playing for Constantine - it’s been viewed a whopping 6.7k times so far!
