(Rochester, NY) – The Rochester Americans announced today that Fairport resident and World War II veteran Pete DuPre will perform the National Anthem prior to the team’s 7:05 p.m. game on Wednesday, Jan. 11 against the Hartford Wolf Pack at The Blue Cross Arena.
Known widely as ‘Harmonica Pete’, the 93-year-old DuPre served as a medic treating the wounded in the United States Army during World War II. On Dec. 7, 2016, DuPre performed the National Anthem on harmonica prior to the Fox Sports presentation of the 2016 Pearl Harbor Invitational basketball game between California and Seton Hall in honor of the 75th-anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor. DuPre’s return to Pearl Harbor was part of the efforts of The Greatest Generations Foundation, an organization dedicated to honoring the sacrifices of veterans by returning them to their former battlegrounds, cemeteries and memorials to ensure that their legacies are recorded and retold in perpetuity to future generations.
Most recently, the Ogdensburg, New York, native was selected to perform the National Anthem at the 2017 NHL All-Star game, scheduled to take place on Sunday, Jan. 29 at STAPLES Center in Los Angeles.
