SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Sidney Walton, age 100, one of America’s oldest WWII veterans and just back from on-stage in Normandy, has announced that he will be driving from San Diego to Sacramento to meet with Gov. Gavin Newsom July 30, 11:30 a.m. to 12 p.m. in the Governor’s private conference room.
The meeting is closed to the press; however, Sidney will hold a press conference and a public meet and greet outside the Governor’s office immediately following the meeting.
Sidney is on a first-ever, nationwide No Regrets Tour ( http://www.nationalnoregretstour.com/ ) raising awareness of the diminishing number of WWII veterans and the sacrifices they made. He is meeting all 50 governors in all 50 states, and met with the President in the Oval Office on April 11. On June 6, Sidney was on-stage with Presidents Trump and Macron at the 75th anniversary of D-Day in Normandy.
As he travels constantly throughout the U.S., at every stop along the way his most frequent expression is, “I love this country!” His continued love and patriotism for America is the driving force behind his unique mission.
Born February 11, 1919 in New York City, Sidney joined the Army in March 1941 – nine months before Pearl Harbor – and served for the entire war. As a survivor of the Asian conflict in WWII, Sidney is reminding Americans of the sacrifices these brave men and women made for our freedom today. In a few short years, there will be no WWII veterans left.
Sidney’s biggest regret in life is missing a historic moment to meet some of the last Civil War veterans. Now, to make up for it, the No Regrets Tour is giving American citizens a rare opportunity to meet one of the last surviving WWII veterans.
“In these times when the country has become so divisive, my father represents a vanishing breed that unites both Democrats and Republicans alike. Everyone thanks him for his service in helping to save this beautiful country,” said his son Paul Walton. “It brings tears to my eyes to see him treated like a national treasure.”
A position with the federal government brought Sidney and his wife Rena to San Diego in 1960, where they raised three children, Paul, Judy and Ellie. Sidney has remained a widower since Rena’s death from cancer in 1982. At age 99, he reminded Paul of his lifetime regret not meeting Civil War veterans. That initiated the National No Regrets Tour. The two-year tour is almost half-way completed.
A GoFundMe link has been set up on Sidney’s webpage, https://gosidneygo.com.
Gov. Newsom will be the 23rd governor to greet Sidney. The other 22 are:
1. Gov. Gina Raimondo, RI – 4/24/18
2. Gov. Charlie Baker, MA – 4/30/18
3. Gov. Paul LePage, ME – 5/4/18
4. Gov. Dannel Malloy, CT – 5/10/18
5. Gov. Andrew Cuomo, NY – 5/18/18
6. Gov. Phil Murphy, NJ – 5/24/18
7. Gov. Eric Holcomb, IN – 5/28/18
8. Gov. Pete Ricketts, NE – 6/11/18
9. Gov. Bill Haslam, TN – 6/19/18
10. Gov. Matt Bevin, KY – 6/26/18
11. Gov. Bruce Rauner, IL – 7/3/18
12. Gov. Rick Scott, FL – 7/11/18
13. Gov. Bill Walker, AK – 9/25/18
14. Gov. David Ige, HI – 10/5/18
15. Gov. Jay Inslee, WA – 10/17/18
16. Gov. Kate Brown, OR – 10/22/18
17. Gov. John Edwards, LA – 12/11/18
18. Gov. Phil Bryant, MS – 12/17/18
19. Gov. Greg Abbott, TX – 12/18/18
20. Gov. Henry McMaster, SC – 4/26/19
21. Gov. Mike Parson, MO – 5/2/19
22. Gov. Roy Cooper, NC – 6/24/19
*VIDEO (YouTube): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVPdMFbRMmM
*SIDNEY’S YOUTUBE CHANNEL: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLh3_98Qmpqq0VUcS2a9F1A
*PHOTO link for media: Send2Press.com/300dpi/19-0726s2p-sidneywalton-300dpi.jpg
*Photo caption: Sidney celebrating his 100th birthday at The Today Show.
Related link: https://gosidneygo.com
This news story was published by the Neotrope® News Network – all rights reserved.