Man considered the oldest in the United States and a veteran of World War II celebrates 110th anniversary

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The family, veterans and current members of the military joined Lawrence Brooks at the museum, where they celebrated with cupcakes and a musical performance by the trio Victory Belles.

Born in 1909, Brooks was a support employee in the 91st Army Engineering Battalion, an African-American unit mostly stationed in New Guinea and the Philippines during the war. He reached the rank of private first class.

He was the servant of your white battalion officers, the museum said in a press release.

The Supercentenarian is a father of five children and five stepchildren.

Lawrence Brooks, a veteran of the Second World War, is holding a photo of him taken in 1943.

He had an exhilarating brush with death

In an interview with the museum, Brooks recounted the story of his flight in a C-47 cargo plane between Australia and New Guinea. The plane was loaded with barbed wire but "one of the engines fell on it," he said.

To lighten the plane, passengers have thrown much of the cargo into the ocean. Brooks threw the boxes out of the plane as if his life depended on it: there were only enough parachutes in the plane for the pilot and co – pilot.

Brooks said that he had joked to the pilot of the plane: "If he will jump, I will grab it."

Fortunately, he did not resort to drastic measures.

"It was a scary moment," he said. "But we did it."

The Victory Belles singing group gives a birthday card to Lawrence Brooks, a Second World War veteran.

Gustav Gerneth, who fought on the German side in the war and was captured as a Russian prisoner of war, is considered the oldest living veterinarian of the Second World War, 113 years old.

In a statement, Stephen Watson, executive director of the National Museum of the Second World War, said Brooks' life and service were filled with sorts of "stories of courage and determination" that the museum had to celebrate. .

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