Dominick Critelli, 105, plays saxophone concert in Lynbrook
Dominick Critelli endured 151 days of combat in World War II.
From inside a small aircraft, he dodged rounds of bullets behind enemy lines to drop vital supplies to soldiers huddled in foxholes during the Battle of the Bulge.
He said he helped liberate countless European communities from Nazi occupation, rose to the rank of staff sergeant and went home with the Air Medal and Good Conduct Medal.
So a recent fall on his knee that led to a femur fracture wasn't going to sideline the 105-year-old U.S. Army veteran.
Critelli, a longtime Floral Park resident, concluded five weeks of post-surgery rehabilitation at Lynbrook Restorative Therapy & Nursing earlier this month with a beaming smile and his beloved soprano saxophone in hand.
“I feel good, and I’m walking a little bit,” said Critelli, wearing a blazer, tie and “World War II Veteran” cap. “They’ve been doing such a beautiful job on me here … I’ll play a couple numbers.”
After elected officials issued a proclamation declaring Sept. 8 “Dominick Critelli Day” in Nassau County, the upbeat centenarian performed “Fly Me to the Moon,” “America the Beautiful” and “God Bless America" to a roomful of staff, patients and fellow vets.
He ended on his all-time favorite — “The Star-Spangled Banner” — showcasing his lung capacity on the high “freeeeee” note to applause and tears from his audience.
“I tell ya, I so love that song,” he said. “It means more to me than most people. What this country has done for me … it’s given me freedom and that’s worth a lot.”
From immigrant beginnings to teaching career
In 1929, at age 8, Critelli emigrated by boat from Italy, where his family lived under Benito Mussolini's fascist regime, to America. The first thing he saw was the Statue of Liberty, which "meant everything" to his young self.
A music lover throughout his youth, he was given a saxophone at 13 by his father, who, to save up money during the Great Depression, walked to work rather than pay trolley car fare.
He’s played five types of saxes ever since, the melodies and opportunities of his adopted home guiding him through his service as an aircraft mechanic in the 95th Infantry Division, under Gen. George S. Patton, from 1942 to 1945. He went on to earn a master’s degree from New York University, had a long teaching career at South Shore High School in Brooklyn and became a husband and the father of two daughters.
Staff Sergeant Dominick Critelli in uniform during World War II. Credit: Dominick Critelli
He's still going. In December, he played the national anthem before a Rangers-Islanders game at UBS Arena.
“I did a lot in my time,” Critelli said with a laugh.
His daughters, Nancy McLaughlin and Sue Munroe-Jesel, sat in the front row during their father’s mini concert held the day before his Sept. 9 release and said they’re in constant awe of his vitality.
“He gets stronger and more active every day,” McLaughlin said.
He’s been back to the Netherlands, where he served during the war and is still regarded as a hero.
In 2024, he was knighted and awarded the French Legion of Honor in Normandy, France's highest military honor, for the 80th anniversary of D-Day. He took note of the contrast between Utah Beach’s bleakness back then and its calm and peacefulness today.
'Do something that comes from the heart'
But for Critelli, who has brought his sax everywhere he’s gone, no accolade comes close to the feeling of honoring fallen soldiers through music.
“I go around now and I play in different places for that purpose and that purpose only,” Critelli said. “I had 19 people in the same unit as me … after the war, I couldn’t find any of them again. I made it here, but don’t know how many of the others did. I can’t do anything with money, but at least I can show a little respect and do something that comes from the heart."
Critelli was first given a saxophone at 13 by his father, who walked to work rather than pay trolley car fare to save money to buy the instrument. Credit: Debbie Egan-Chin
Patrick Iuliucci, 78, quartermaster of Robert F. Garrison VFW Post 3350 in East Rockaway and a Vietnam War veteran, was among the attendees at Lynbrook.
“I wish my father, who was in World War II, was here,” Iuliucci said. “I wish all of them still were. I look at [Critelli] as being an icon. He brings a lot of spirit to everybody, not just veterans — the whole world.”
Critelli's physical therapist, Cheramie Cabilan, said he was an “inspiration to everyone.”
“He was a cheerleader to all the patients, telling them, ‘You got this! You’re doing so well,’ ” Cabilan said. “Sometimes he’d play in the rehab gym for us. I’d joke to him that it’s hard to catch up with him, like ‘Dom, slow down!’ ”
Critelli attributes his vitality and longevity to his Italian roots.
“When I was very young [in Italy], my mother used to have me get dandelions, ‘cicoria.’ ... She’d cut off the flower and put part of the root into a bowl … you get some olive oil and, to make it a little better, a glass of wine.”
In addition to his roots, he said, what keeps him strong is “the country," which he added "is more important than anything."
"It keeps me going," he said.
