A quest to get vaccinated against the coronavirus took a lot of time and several phone calls, but giving up was never an option for 99-year-old World War II veteran Bob Wolff.
Earlier this week, NBC4 broadcast a story about Wolff, who was having trouble getting a COVID-19 vaccine appointment. But when the situation calls for perseverance in the face of adversity, Wolff has decades of experience.
Wolff was the captain of a B-17 flying fortress during World War II, which was shot down in Germany and landed in the ocean. He saved his crew and even survived being a prisoner of war, but he still couldn't secure a COVID-19 vaccine appointment.
"I can't tell you what a rip-roaring this is, I've called everybody I know," Wolff said.
However, after his story aired on NBC4 News, Wolff received good news. Both Kaiser Permanente and the VA called him and now he has a COVID-19 vaccine appointment not only for himself but also for a very special person in his life.
"My wife is also included and she is the only one that should have it as much as I do, if not more," Wolff said.
After 75 years of marriage, he's not going without her.
"Listen, I would use anything from an ox car to a B17 to 707, 757 whatever to get her anywhere. I'll get her there one way or another even if I have to carry the whole package on my back!" he said.
NBC4 also received calls from quite a few viewers including navy veteran, Jodie Cohen, who offered to help get Wolff an appointment with the VA and even volunteered to give him her vaccine appointment.
"I thought somebody of his status who made such a sacrifice for his county, the least I could do was make a sacrifice for him," Cohen said.
"It restores my faith in human nature, after all of the [negative] headlines we've seen, but this erases it,” Wolff said. "Thank you again and again."
