It was a hero’s homecoming for 97-year-old Chuck Robic, a WWII veteran who beat COVID-19 and returned to his nursing home last week.

The staff at Grand Villa of Pinellas Park celebrated with a welcome home party.

Robic was sent to the hospital with the virus August 5^th, and it took a month and a half for him to make a full recovery.

But his family said Robic is known for his tenacity, and they knew if anyone could beat the virus, it would be him.

“I probably hesitated for half a second before I just said ‘he’ll beat this’,” said Ken Chatelain, whose wife Anita is Robic’s great niece. 

Robic was drafted in 1943 and served overseas during WWII. He was wounded in The Battle of the Hedgerows, a brutal fight that took place following the U.S. invasion of Normandy. Robic was sent to a hospital in England to recover, and then rejoined the American forces. 

“In those days, there was no such thing as a million dollar wound,” Chatelain said. “They patched you up and sent you back to the front.”

Robic then fought in The Battle of Hurtgen Forrest, followed by the Battle of the Bulge, where the allies prevailed in some of the bloodiest fighting of WWII.

“His unit’s motto in WWII was ‘keep moving,’” Chatelain said. “He’s tough.”

And Robic proved it once again when he returned to Grand Villa COVID-19 free.