World War II veteran dies of coronavirus a century after twin lost his life to Spanish flu

A 100-year-old World War II veterandied on Thursdaydue to thecoronavirus, as per the US media reports.

According to the report,Philip Kahn fought at the Battle of Iwo Jima and helped with aerial surveys after the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Newsday said Wednesday in its online edition.

Kahn died a century after his twin brother lost his life in 1919 months after he was born to1918-19 Spanish flu pandemic.

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Kahn had been afraid of another pandemic coming along during his lifetime, his grandson said in a report by CNN

"I would have conversations with him, he would say to me, 'I told you history repeats itself, 100 years is not that long of a period of time,'" CNN quoted Warren Zysman as saying.

Kahn experienced coronavirus symptoms such as coughing before his death on April 17 and knew he might have it, Zysman told CNN.He was buriedat New Montefiore Cemetery in West Babylon, Long Island.

Kahn enlisted in the US Army Air Corps pilot training program in 1940, and after the United States entered the war he served in the Pacific -- at the Battle of Iwo Jima and later in the firebombing raids over Japan, Newsday said. He was awarded two bronze stars.

The global coronavirus pandemic has infected million of people around the world while thousands other have succumbed to the deadly disease.