(gentle jingle) (atmospherical upbeat music) - I was in 53 months from the 19th of June, '41, 'till November 7th '45.

Got out in November of '45, 53 months all together.

I was a mechanic.

I worked on the Hellcat airplane and I met the guy that's going to fly that Hellcat and that plane starts with a shotgun shell.

And we had to turn the prop over two or three times and then give the pilot the high sign to fire.

Sometimes it started, sometimes it didn't.

So if a starter went bad, we had to replace it.

And then if it had oil leaks or anything, we would repair the oil leaks.

So that's about all we did.

- [Interviewer] What was your most memorable day in the service?

- I really don't know.

- [Interviewer] There's nothing that pop in your head?

- When I hunted for girls.

(laughs) When I was out going to the bars.

When I was stationed in San Diego, we used to hitchhike up to LA.

So before we went, we'd go to the liquor store and pick up a pint of booze and drink on the way while we were hitchhiking.

(laughs) (airplane roars) I was here last summer, so I've been here before.

And they told us about the air show and so that's why we're here.

I wish I could go out and look at all those airplanes, but I can't.

But I know the guy I met here last year, he's gonna fly that Hellcat and maybe some of the other ones, I don't know.

That airfield we built there out in the islands, we had a B17 that landed on that airfield and they were guys in the army that were photographing all the country all around that way.

And when we were out there, the Coral Sea Battle went on out there when we were there.

So I think there was a couple battles.

And then the Battle of Midway, I think, went on there.

So our Marines took a heck of a beating.

When we were parked in Manila Bay in the Philippines, my brother was in the Navy and he was in the Underwater Demolition during World War II.

He went in at Iwo Jima and some of the other islands.

And when I was parked there in the Philippines, he came aboard ship and he had lunch with me.

I can't believe he knew where the heck I was.

Yeah, he was two years older than I was, but he died from a heart attack at 35.

- [Interviewer] Oh wow.

- And I'm 99!

(interviewer laughs) - [Interviewer] When's your birthday?

- May 19, '23.

- [Interviewer] So you're gonna make a hundred.

- Well, that's what I'm planning, but who knows?

(laughs) (gentle atmospherical music)