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.
[Mr. 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 about 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.
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!