Excerpt:

Bob Hitchcock had flown 32 missions in World War II and narrowly missed death three times during European bombing missions aboard B-17s and B-24s. He was hoping to amass three more, without dying first, so he could go home for good when Hitler surrendered.

Sixty-six years later, Hitchcock, now 88, will join 36 other WW II veterans for a special tribute aboard the USS Hornet, a US Navy aircraft carrier and living museum in Alameda.

Besides Hitchcock, local veterans honored include fellow Benician Harold Bray, 84, who survived nearly six days without food or water wading in the Pacific Ocean following the 1945 sinking of the USS Indianapolis.