There are moments that remind us what America is really about, and watching 104-year-old World War II veteran Dominick Critelli take the ice and play the national anthem on his saxophone was one of them. The emotional performance took place at UBS Arena before the Islanders-Rangers game on December 27, 2025, and the crowd erupted into chants of “USA” — the sort of unified patriotism too rarely seen in public life today.
Critelli is not some celebrity stunt actor but a decorated Staff Sergeant who survived the Battle of the Bulge and spent more than 150 days in combat delivering supplies behind enemy lines for his fellow soldiers. His service earned him multiple honors including Bronze Stars and campaign medals, the kind of real sacrifice that big-city elites and woke institutions seem to forget when they lecture us about “progress.”
His life story reads like a testament to the American dream: an immigrant from Italy who found a home in this country and repaid that debt with courage and devotion. France even recognized his bravery by appointing him a Knight of the Legion of Honor in 2024, a reminder that our veterans’ sacrifices are respected around the world even when some at home shrink from patriotism.
Musically, Critelli has been playing the saxophone since he was 13 and studied music at the university level, practicing an hour a day well into his centenarian years. He dedicated that performance to the friends he lost and showed the kind of humility and reverence our culture should elevate, not mock or erase.
The crowd’s spontaneous “USA” chants and the standing ovation weren’t just nostalgia — they were a rebuke to the trendy contempt for the flag and the military pushed by so many on the left. If Americans still know how to stand behind a man who bled for our freedoms, there’s hope that the next generation can be taught to honor country, history, and duty instead of being trained to resent them.
Dominick Critelli’s saxophone may have held a single, soaring note, but that moment should resonate much longer than any cable pundit’s talking point or campus protest. Hardworking patriots everywhere should take his example to heart: remember the fallen, respect our veterans, and pass on a love of country that made moments like this possible.
