Clearwater WWII veteran celebrates 106th birthday with 5 generations of his family
CLEARWATER, Fla. - A Clearwater WWII veteran celebrated his 106th birthday on Saturday. Five generations of his family gathered at a Largo home to reflect on his fondest memories.
Glenwood Myers can still vividly recollect his life in great detail.
"Well, well, well. I don’t know where the years went. 106," he said. "It seems like the months and the days flew past and here it is."
At age 26, the husband and father of four at the time was drafted to serve in the Navy during WWII. For just under two years, he was stationed in Okinawa and served as a seaman, then a Gunnery Captain.
"I remember all of that stuff. That was 1945," he shared.
Myers even survived a typhoon aboard his ship.
"They took tugboats and everything, tried to pull it off, and they couldn't get it off the rocks. It was just wedged on there and had big holes," Myers said.
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Once the war was over, it took him months to get back home to Canton, Ohio. Myers said it took traveling via B-24 bomber, aircraft carrier, loop train, and taxi.
"When I came home, there were four kids and a wife waiting on me. She didn’t know I was coming home and that was quite a greeting," he said.
Over the years, he and Mary had one more son before moving to California, then Tennessee. They settled down in Tampa Bay in 1999.
He said his secret to a long life is faith, family, and a diet secret.
"Everything I eat has hot sauce in it. When I used to eat onions, I would eat them like an apple, I would bite into it and eat it," he shared. "Limburger cheese, I would eat. It stinks but it’s good."
To this day, Myers lives independently and gets around on a scooter. His family said every day he scooters over to a Wendy's, orders a chicken sandwich, fries, and frosty. Then he travels to Publix for the day-old bread to feed to the ducks at a nearby pond.
For his birthday, he was gifted $100 in Wendy's gift cards by his family.
On saturday he was overjoyed to spend the day together.
"Wonderful, it’s marvelous. A lot of them I haven’t seen for a long time," he said. "I enjoy having every one of you. And I love you all, and thank God for you."
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