WWII, Korean War Veteran And Former POW Celebrates 100th Birthday – It's Time To Congratulate Him

Jun 06, 2019 by apost team

As time goes on and ex-military members grow older, it becomes harder and harder to find a living WWII veteran. It has been many decades since the war ended, and veterans of this important battle are unfortunately leaving us often as they reach elderly ages. We honor these victims on special days throughout the year, and many of us give thanks to veterans whenever we stumble into one in our daily lives.

However, it’s still possible to find some of these living heroes, as not all of them have left us quite yet. In fact, one important WWII veteran just celebrated a very important birthday! Living in Tullahoma, Thomas E. Gwynn reached his monumental 100th year on earth while being celebrated by his community for his contributions to WWII.

The honorable veteran has not only reached an impressive age, but he also holds the achievements of surviving World War II as well as the Korean War. Not only that, but Gwynn was also held as a prisoner of war, not one, but two times, thankfully finding a way to escape each time. This means that Gwynn survived D-Day as well as the Battle of the Buldge.

While he was spending his time serving in Normandy, he received the high honor of becoming a Battle Field Commission to Second Lieutenant.

When reminiscing on his time in the war, he recalls that his life is very different now than when it was in 1944 as he headed to the Normandy battle of D-Day, where 2,500 Americans, unfortunately, paid the ultimate sacrifice for our freedoms. The battle was horrific and destructive to everyone that was involved, and history books will forever hold this date in them as a true date of complete tragedy.

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Although Gwynn’s information about what he did during the battle is classified, he still has lasting remnants of the battle in his mind each and every day, like many soldiers. He recalls praying for Jesus to help him through the battle as he exited the boat and even recalls hearing Jesus talk back to him and guide his way.

At his impressive age, Gwynn is one of the few remaining soldiers that has served both WWII and the Korean War.

During his battle in Korea, he became a prisoner of war two separate times. During his second imprisonment, they attempted to murder him by hanging but did not succeed. This led Gwynn to fight back and eventually escape his captors.

During his time serving in two wars, he amassed a total of 24 injuries. Gwynn has received 12 Purple Hearts and over 40 awards of his courageous nature and time served.

Although many of his accolades were lost in a house fire many years ago, he still has many of his medals. Now that his time serving is over and Gwynn has reached his glory days, he tries to live life as normally as he can. In fact, he even renewed his driver’s license recently! He enjoys shopping at the grocery store and donating food to those who are in need.

We’re wishing a huge happy 100th birthday to this living legend and we hope he spends the rest of his days living peacefully!

You can learn more about Gwynn in the video below: 

What a hero! What do you think about Gwynn's lifetime achievements? Let us know in the comments. Don't forget to show this story to your friends and loved ones to give this American hero the attention he deserves.