Lawrence Brooks celebrated his 111th birthday on Saturday and the National WWII Museum wanted to honor him despite the pandemic. Brooks is the oldest known veteran to have fought in WWII and instead of throwing him his traditional party, the museum asked the public to send him cards.
Brooks received about 10,000, and they came from every U.S. state and seven different countries.
Brooks did get some form of in-person celebration as well. He was honored with a socially distant party at his New Orleans home. The celebration was complete with a military flyover and songs from the National WWII Museum’s vocal trio.
Brooks served in the 91st Engineer Battalion stationed in New Guinea and the Philippines.