NEW ORLEANS — Editor's note: The attached video is from an unrelated story about a girl ringing a bell on her birthday after beating cancer.
A Louisiana man who is the oldest living World War II veteran in the United States has marked his 112th birthday.
Lawrence Brooks celebrated Sunday with a drive-by party at his New Orleans home hosted by the National War War II Museum. Festivities included a Jeep parade, a live performance from the museum vocal trio and entertainment from New Orleans musicians.
Drafted in 1940, Brooks was a private in the Army’s mostly Black 91st Engineer Battalion. The unit was stationed in New Guinea and the Philippines and built infrastructure such as bridges, roads and airstrips.