United States Senator Jack Reed to Present Rhode Island D-Day Veteran Richard Fazzio with the 2025 Senator Bob Dole WWII Foundation Leadership Award
The RI-based World War II Foundation and International Museum of WWII are hosting the award ceremony on Saturday, August 9, 2025, beginning at 2:00 PM, in Wakefield, RI. The Public is invited.
South Kingstown, RI-Join the World War II Foundation and the International Museum of World War II in South Kingstown, RI, on Saturday, August 9th at 2:00 p.m., as 100-year-old D-Day veteran Richard Fazzio receives the Senator Bob Dole WWII Leadership Award for his actions in Normandy, France, on D-Day, June 6, 1944.
United States Senator Jack Reed (D-RI), a military veteran himself, will present the award to Mr. Fazzio.
This honor, from the RI-based World War II Foundation, is "presented annually to an individual of the Greatest Generation or their family who, as an individual, reflects the values of self-sacrifice, public service, and everlasting commitment to our nation's principles of freedom and democracy."
The award is named in honor of American Senator, Presidential candidate, and World War II veteran Bob Dole, a prior recipient of the honor.
Past recipients include Senator Bob Dole, Senator John Warner, 101st Airborne Paratrooper Jim Martin, and Tuskegee Airman Harry Stewart.
During the Normandy Invasion on June 6, 1944, Richard Fazzio was a Navy Coxswain on a Higgins Boat, bringing soldiers of the 1st Infantry Division onto Omaha Beach. Fazzio piloted the 5th boat in the first wave that morning, headed towards the Easy Red sector of Omaha Beach, one of the most heavily defended areas by the Germans on D-Day.
Richard was wounded during the chaos of that epic day but survived to take part in the invasion of Southern France in August of 1944.
Fazzio is one of the last living first-wave veterans of D-Day.
Richard Fazzio is a native of Woonsocket, Rhode Island, and enlisted in the Navy at the age of 17.
The event at The International Museum of World War II in Wakefield, RI, is open to the public free of charge, but guests must RSVP to Thom Brassil at the address below due to limited space.
Thom Brassil: thom@wwiifoundation.org
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