As a staff sergeant flying in bombing raids over Nazi-occupied Europe during World War II, Michael Nicholas Tristano flirted with death on a recurring basis.
The former ball-turret gunner cheated the reaper again last week, but instead of dodging German anti-aircraft guns’ flak from inside a B-17 “Flying Fortress” bomber, police say the 91-year-old veteran survived a savage attack inside his North Port home by the caregiver entrusted with his welfare.
Police say Tristano’s caregiver, whom he had known for at least a decade, clubbed him in the head multiple times with an aluminum oxygen tank and left him on the floor of his home to die on the night of May 15.
