Nearly 600,000 people have viewed a photo of a 93-year-old World War II veteran voting on his deathbed.
The veteran, Frank Tanabe, is suffering from liver cancer. He is casting his vote from a hospice bed in Hawaii, NPR reports.
This message was posted with the photo:
"My grandfather is proud of having voted in every single presidential election since he was awarded his citizenship in order to serve during WWII. Here he is, 93 years old and on his deathbed, with my aunt helping him fill out one last ballot."
But according to the Associated Press:
"Barbara Tanabe read aloud the names of the candidates to her dad. He either nodded 'yes' to the names or shook his head 'no.' She filled in the boxes on his behalf, following his instructions, even when he didn't pick the people she wanted.
"There were some that were OK, but there were others where I said, 'Dad, are you sure?' she said,” the Associated Press reported. “But he knew what he was doing. He's kept up on the issues, reading newspapers regularly until only recently, she said."
During the early years of the war, Tanabe was sent to a California internment camp. There, he volunteered to serve in the U.S. military. He was assigned to the Military Intelligence Service. Last year, that service was awarded a Congressional Gold Medal.
If Tanabe dies before Election Day, by law his vote would not count, The Atlantic Wire reports.
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