OLDS — Peter Kraft, a Second World War veteran and resident of Olds for 20 years, celebrated his 100th birthday couple of months ahead of time in late October.
Nearly 60 relatives and friends throughout Alberta and B.C. and from as far away as Wisconsin attended an Oct. 26 reception and dinner at the Pomeroy Inn & Suites.
“His actual birth date is December 27th, but we thought we would hold the celebration a little earlier, before winter sets in, and certainly not in the middle of the Christmas season,” a website created for the occasion said.
A reception was held from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., followed by a brief presentation by a couple of members of the Royal Canadian Legion Branch #105 in Olds.
After dinner, a cake-lighting ceremony was undertaken and attendees sang Happy Birthday. A video – an interview about his wartime experience – was then played.
During an interview with the Albertan, Kraft was asked what it was like to be turning 100 years old.
“Well, pretty slow,” he said. “I’m getting so I’m having a hard time walking and I have bad hearing,” he said, noting his hearing is especially bad in one ear.
If that wasn’t enough, he also couldn’t see very well. He blamed that on an eye injection he had the day before.
Kraft figures the hearing problem is largely – if not entirely – due to his experiences in the Second World War.
“I’m a war veteran and in them days, you never thought anything about hearing protection. And you know, you go out on the rifle range and sometimes you shoot a hundred rounds a day,” he said.
He figures another factor in his hearing loss is an incident during the Second World War when an airplane dropped an anti-personnel bomb while he was sleeping on top of a gun carrier.
The bombs hit the ground, then bounced up and exploded.
There was a loud noise and Kraft was hit by shrapnel.
"One piece went in my right chest and another one went through under my left arm, through my left lung and stopped right beside the other one. And (I got) compound fractures of my small bone in my left knee joint," he said during an earlier interview with the Albertan.
Kraft was asked why he figures he’s lived so long.
“Well, I drank a lot of beer,” he said with a laugh.
He recalled that before and after the war, he’d worked in the bush.
“On weekends we’d go to town and party all weekend, then go back to camp,” he said with another laugh.
Kraft said because he’s a diabetic “I have to watch sweets,” but other than that, “I eat most anything, whatever somebody cooks for me.”
Kraft was asked how he felt about the reception.
“It makes me feel good,” he said.
He was especially pleased that his two sons, Michael and Doug, were in attendance, as were a couple of nephews and nieces he hadn’t seen for years. He has no grandchildren or great-grandchildren.
