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WWII veteran honored with street name in Scranton

The street was dedicated on Saturday afternoon.

SCRANTON, Pa. — Walter Pasiak survived the Pearl Harbor attacks and traveled the world during his long career in the U.S. Army. 

But - he spent most of his life on Breck Street in south Scranton. A place he was very proud of. 

"We'd cut the grass together, and he would get down there with a scissors and cut the grass!" said Bob Bogaski.

Barbara and Bob Bogaski were Walter's neighbors for fifty years. 

"It would be roasting out, so I used to bring him out food and bottle of water and make him sit on the step," said Barbara. 

"We miss him, we miss him," said Bob.

They say he would be especially proud of the new sign right across the street from his homestead. 

The City of Scranton, along with the Lackawanna County 9/11 Committee, unveiled a street sign renaming this block of Rosen Court as "MSGT. Walter Pasiak Lane."

An appropriate honor, organizers say, for the longest living Pearl Harbor veteran from Lackawanna County. Walter passed away in January - he would have turned 99 this weekend. 

"It's unbelievable. It's right across the street from his house. I wish he was here to see all of this," said Diane Sica.

Diane Sica is Walter's niece. She says family members traveled from all over for the ceremony, and some family tuned in virtually from Japan. People from all over the world, honoring a veteran who had been all over the world, who is now immortalized in the corner of it he loved the most. 

"Hopefully, he's looking down on this and saying, 'Wow.' He had an exciting life and did so much and deserves all this for everything he did," said Sica.

RELATED: New street sign to honor Pearl Harbor veteran

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