101-year-old vet celebrates 75th anniversary of end of WWII

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WTVQ) – A World War II veteran is completing the world’s longest COVID-safe parade.

And he stopped in Lexington Tuesday afternoon.

Sidney Walton, who is 101 years young, is celebrating the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II by going from the Georgia statehouse to the Michigan state Capitol.

With a police escort, Walton, one of the few surviving World War II veterans, is traveling up I-75 and stopped to see Lexington Mayor Linda Gorton.

He went on to Cincinnati Tuesday night.

Walton travels with his son Paul, who says: “Nothing like Operation 75 has ever been done before. It’s one for the history books. We’re going to give it our best shot and hope to make it to the finish line. With help from local communities, police departments and veterans groups, we will succeed! This commemoration of the end of WWII unites this country and means everything to my father.”

While the date is not always agreed upon, historians generally put the end of the war sometime between Aug. 14 and Sept. 2, 1945. On Sept. 2, 1945, formal surrender documents were signed aboard the USS Missouri, designating the day as the official Victory over Japan Day (V-J Day).