Floral Park’s 105-year-old WWII vet plays anthem again at Islanders opener
Dominick Critelli, who survived Utah Beach and flew supply drops in the Battle of the Bulge, played the national anthem on saxophone at UBS Arena.
Before the Islanders opened their home season against the New Jersey Devils on Saturday, Dominick Critelli raised his saxophone at UBS Arena in Elmont and played “The Star-Spangled Banner.” Critelli lives in Floral Park, served in the Army during World War II and is 105 years old.
He had played the anthem in the same building once before. That was last December, at an Islanders-Rangers game, when fans of both teams cheered him. This time he was also honored as the game’s veteran, and former Islander Butch Goring handed him a jersey with the number 105.
“I love the USA, and I wouldn’t change it,” Critelli said.
From Utah Beach to the Battle of the Bulge
Critelli served as a flight mechanic and came through the Normandy landings at Utah Beach. Later, during the Battle of the Bulge in Belgium’s Ardennes Forest, he flew 14 missions behind enemy lines, delivering supplies and medicine to cut-off soldiers. “We saved a lot of lives,” he said. His decorations include the Air Medal and three Bronze Stars. In 2024, French President Emmanuel Macron made him a knight for helping free France from Nazi occupation.
A close friend who held officer rank pressed him to reenlist for four more years and promised he would be made an officer. Critelli turned it down and went home to his family. After the war, he taught and built houses.
A WWII veteran’s saxophone
Born in Calabria, Italy, in 1921, Critelli came to America when he was 8 and remembers the Statue of Liberty from the trip to Ellis Island. Music took hold of him at 13, and he studied it at NYU before the war. When he shipped out, the saxophone went with him. In Europe, soldiers wanted him at their dances, and he was often called on to play when important guests came to give speeches. The largest crowd of his life gathered near the war’s end in the Netherlands: thousands of Dutch civilians, freed only days or weeks before, listened as he played from the top of a tank.
That saxophone is still at his home near Belmont Park, and the sheet music for the anthem sits beside his bed. Critelli has kept playing for troops and others over the years. In September he gave a show at the physical therapy facility treating his recent leg injury, which has him using a walker for now. “I’ll be alright,” he said.
Quick answers
Who played the national anthem at the Islanders home opener?
Dominick Critelli played it on saxophone. He is 105, lives in Floral Park and served in the Army during World War II.
Has Dominick Critelli played at an Islanders game before?
Yes. He first played the anthem at UBS Arena last December, at an Islanders-Rangers game.
