Dying WWII vet asks to meet someone from same battlefield

Despite the brutality and loss
of World War II,

one veteran finds solace
in a powerful meeting

of hearts and minds.

The last wish of a dying Marine

was to share his memories
with a comrade-in-arms.

Gary Tuchman reports on how
that wish was granted

through social media.

[Gary Tuchman]
A World War II Marine veteran.

Shot three times, and bayoneted,
in the Battle of Guadalcanal.

A Purple Heart recipient.

This is Sergeant Bill Hessian today.

How old are you?

96.

96. And when do you turn 97?
When is your birthday?

May 30th.

That's coming up!

Yeah.

Sadly, Sergeant Hessian's health
is failing.

He is now receiving hospice care.

It turns out that long ago battle
on the Solomon Islands

has flooded Sergeant Hessian's memory,
of late.

So much so, his hospice caregivers
decided to do something about it.

"Do your thing, Twitter.

A hospice facility in New York
is seeking someone willing/able

to visit with a veteran patient --
age 96 --

who was in the Battle of Guadalcanal.

The patient is fixated on talking
to someone

that has this specific
shared experience."

Twitter did its thing.

We found Harold Berg in Peoria Illinois.

Also a former World War II
Marine Sergeant.

Also the recipient of
a Purple Heart.

And also at the
Battle of Guadalcanal.

Without hesitation,
Harold Berg and a family friend

hopped a plane to New York City,

and headed to the Rockland County,
New York home

Bill Hessian shares with
his daughter, and her family,

to fulfill this last wish.

Harold Berg? This is Bill Hessian.

You are both Marines.

Both at Guadalcanal.

Both American heroes.

Hi, by golly!

A leatherneck.

Yeah.
- Yeah.

What outfit were you in?

A Company.

Combat Engineers.

Yeah, Combat?

By golly, you and I
are just about the same age.

I'm 96.

You're 96? I'm 92.

Yeah.

I still chase girls.

[Laughter]

I lie, too. ha-ha

His grandson.

[Mr. Tuchman] With family
and friends gathered around them,

the men shared stories
of their time during the war,

and spoke of their physical
and emotional wounds,

that remain,
all these decades later.

Well boy, you're lucky to be here.

Yeah. It went right through there.

Yeah.

Then, it went down through me.

And then, I don't know why,

because I had a hole in my back,
like this.

Well, life has been pretty good
for you and I.

Yes.
- Yeah.

Right now, it ain't so good.

Well, yeah, but look,
we had a lot of good days go by.

Oh, yeah.

Yeah.

[Mr. Berg] I lost my wife two years ago.
We were married 71 years.

Oh.

Sgt. Hessian is also a widower.
He was married for 55 years.

Well, what do they got
you doing now?

I'm living here with my daughter.

You mow the grass, and...?

Huh?

Do you mow the grass?

I can't even do that.

That's what they got me doing now.
Mowing the grass. [Laughs]

Yeah.

There I am, right there.

[Mr. Tuchman] It took more than
75 years after these men

shared a battlefield,
at Guadalcanal.

But Bill Hessian and Harold Berg
are now friends.

This is a coin I had
for the United States Marines.

That's where you and I
got our education.

But, when they said goodbye,

they knew they likely
would not see each other again.

It was good to see a fellow Marine.

Yeah.

I tell you, I enjoyed it.

I want you to look in the camera.

[Mr. Tuchman] A last wish,
fulfilled.

Gary Tuchman, CNN,
New City, New York.

[Woman sighs] How about that.

That is the best thing I have seen
in quite a while.

Gary Tuchman,
thank you for that.

And, to those two men:
Thank you, both, so much.

Whew!