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.”