VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) – In honor of Veterans Day, 10 On Your Side been sharing the inspiring stories and accomplishments of the heroic men and women who served our country, including WWII Veteran Clay Beasley, who turned 99 Monday.

Veterans Day is always extra special for Beasley, as his birthday falls on the Nov. 11 holiday.

“I just think of the blessings that God has given me,” he said, “the family He has blessed me with, and this country He has blessed me with to live here. And I thank Him for giving me the strength and the ability to serve it.”

Beasley is a originally from Margarettsville, N.C., and he was an aerial gunner in the Army Air Corps, enlisting when he was 18. He served from 1943 to 1945 in the Pacific theater and still remembers the time like it was yesterday.

“I wasn’t afraid,” Beasley said. “I knew that if I didn’t enlist, I would be drafted. I always wanted to fly. I wanted to be a pilot, but I couldn’t make it, so I was placed as a gunner. I remember when I was a kid back in the early days, and you didn’t see our plane very often. That was something very unusual in back in the early days of my life.”

Life has changed significantly for Beasley since his younger years, as he is now partially blind due to macular degeneration. But he said he has much as he reflects on almost a century of life.

“It’s wonderful to know that I’ve got a family like this here,” he said. “The pictures up there, that’s what she blessed me with. Three daughters and sons and son-in-laws. A whole bunch of grandchildren, six grandchildren and 14 great grandchildren. And I love our children, every one of them.”

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs reports there are a little more than 66,000 veterans still living in 2024 out of 16.4 million Americans who served in World War II.

Clay Beasley is currently under care at the Jones & Cabacoy Veterans Care Center in Virginia Beach.