Posted on 03/06/2019 9:31:15 AM PST by COBOL2Java
[Misleading headline. He doesn't "want" 100 kisses, he's been promised 100 kisses]
SCOTTSBURG, Ind. —
It’s been a rough year for Bethel Killman, 99, of Scottsburg, but he’s hoping his 100th birthday marks a turnaround.
In April, the World War II vet was diagnosed with a heart valve problem and given five months to live. In September, he lost his wife.
Now, less than two weeks before his 100th birthday, the World War II veteran’s family is trying to cheer him up with a community-wide birthday party.
“Bethel was feeling down about his prognosis last year, so I told him I would throw him a party for his 100th birthday," Steven Phillips, who dates Killman’s stepdaughter, tells WLKY. "I own the Hardy Café in Scottsburg, so I said I’m going to throw you a birthday party there and get you a hundred kisses on your head. And he beamed up at me and said, ‘Well how much is that going to cost me?’”
Phillips said he would take care of everything.
Killman’s party will be held at 2 p.m. on March 17 at Hardy Café on Main Street. Everyone is welcome to attend and give Killman a kiss, a card or just a friendly, “Happy Birthday.”
Phillips said Killman was a member of the Old Guard and fought in the Battle of the Bulge in 1945. “The American Legion will be at the party. We’re going to pull out some old pictures and try to dig up some memories from his service. It’ll be special for him.”
“Killman is excited about the party and the kisses. I think it’s really kept him going,” Phillips says. The cards are an added bonus, an idea sparked by Killman’s grandkids who posted a photo on Facebook. It has since racked up more than 1,000 shares.
As the saying goes: the person who wants to live to be 100 is the one who’s 99 .....
I respect all Vets.
I am just not sure this type of pandering for attention is something I can get worked up over.
Have the party. His friends and family can show up. Get the proclamation from the Mayor and all that stuff.
Asking strangers for happy birthday wishes is odd.
I had an uncle that fought from Normandy though the Battle of the Bulge. The LAST thing he wanted to do is pull out old pictures of the war. He hated the war. He never talked about.
And he would say, "All anyone ever wanted to do since that TV show (Band of Brothers) is talk about the war. Why would I want to re-live that crap?"
He would have taken the kisses though.
My uncle fought in the Battle of the Bulge. He was never that motivated to discuss it.
One thing he would say his experiences did for him, however, was lead to his vocation. After the war, he entered the seminary, was ordained, and was the pastor of several churches in the Savannah GA area until his death in 1980.
Put me down for one. But keep your hands where I can see ‘em.
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