Vets Celebrate Soldier's 100th Birthday-- Part 3: WW II Vet Acie Shaffer

The day of the party, the Golden Rule facility had a total of 21 World War II veterans living there.

One of them was 94-year-old Acie Shaffer, who served in the same outfit, the 84th Infantry Division, known as "The Railsplitters," as Clark.

Their paths never crossed at the time though, but they've become good friends at the facility.

Mr. Shaffer had his own brush with death.  While fighting to turn back the last major German offensive in the war in the winter 1944-45, he found himself in the middle of heavy fire.  Said Mr. Shaffer:  "About 4 o'clock in the morning, they moved a bunch of stuff in on us.  And one of them 60 mm mortars dropped right beside me.

"If it hit just two or three inches over, it would have, it would have blown my rib cage, but that old elbow saved me."

That "old elbow" never healed properly and the day of the party it remained under wrap.

Then, Shaffer talked about how he and his brother joined the Army and his brother was recruited into the 101st Airborne.  "That rascal made 17 jumps and never got a damn scratch," he laughed.

--GreGen