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Dying vet may be with wife in nursing home

Posted at 12:40 PM, Jan 20, 2016
and last updated 2016-01-20 16:41:30-05

A World War II paratrooper dying of cancer may be able to spend his last days with his wife in a Colorado nursing home thanks to an anonymous donor.

The Pueblo Chieftain newspaper reports that 92-year-old Elmer Melchi, who jumped into Normandy on D-Day, is in Veterans Administration hospice care while his wife, June Melchi, who has dementia, is at the University Park Care Center. It is not a VA-approved nursing home and the family didn't want to move her to a sanctioned facility.

After the newspaper reported their story, someone offered to pay for 10 days of care for Elmer Melchi at the nursing home.

Son Garry Melchi says his father will be moved into a bed next to his mother if he can be stabilized enough.