HATTIESBURG, Miss. — A sorority at the University of Southern Mississippi helped grant a 92-year-old World War II veteran’s dying wish of dancing with a beautiful woman.
The women of Phi Mu Sorority held a dance in Navy veteran Paul Sonnier’s honor on Monday, WDAM-TV reports.
Jessica Moreau first met Sonnier when she worked as a social work intern at SouthernCare Hospice Services in Hattiesburg.
“He’d always ask me if I wanted to go to Ropers, the local bar,” Moreau said. “He says I’ll teach you how to jitterbug and the waltz.”
During one visit, Sonnier said his final wish would be to “dance with a beautiful woman.”
Phi Mu chapter president Cameron Ponder said the dance was a way to “honor someone that has done so much for our country.”
Family members told the station that Sonnier was in the Navy during the attack on Pearl Harbor and served during World War II.
“What we appreciate the most is that our greatest generation member, my father, is happy that this younger generation appreciates everything that he did and sacrificed so they can sit here and have fun and have the freedoms that they have,” said Sonnier’s daughter, Ida Sonnier.
