World War II veteran living in the Bay Area turning 105
By John Ramos
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WINDSOR, California (KPIX) — It’s been 80 years since World War II ended, and the world is a very different place because of it. One Windsor man was there to see all of it, and on Saturday, he was honored with a vintage military salute for his 105th birthday.
“All of the decisions have enabled me to live a perfect life of 105,” Dick Sharp said about his impending birthday. “It’s OK. I just don’t recommend it.”
One of those decisions happened in 1941, when he enlisted in the Army Air Corp, three months before Pearl Harbor was attacked. As the country geared up for war, Sharp already had his pilot’s license, so they made him a flight instructor. But in 1945, late in the war, he was sent to the Pacific island of Tinian to fly B-29 bombers, sometimes joining 300 other planes as they pounded Tokyo.
“It looked like one hell of a lot of fireworks over the city, with the searchlights, the fire on the ground, the tracer ammunition coming up,” he recalled. “And there was some concern about, jeez, I’m going to have to fly right into just an enormous display of Fourth of July fireworks.”
The nightly missions continued until one day a plane showed up at the base that everyone was told not to get near. It was the Enola Gay, which delivered the atomic bomb on Hiroshima.
Later, Sharp moved into civilian life, becoming a dentist and raising a family. But, still, the military brotherhood remained strong. On his 100th birthday, he met fellow pilot Larry Scott, who flew during the Cold War in 1953.
“I often, when I meet someone, after a few minutes, I’ll ask them if they had been in the military,” said Scott. “Because there is kind of — It’s not a big deal, but it’s kind of a thing.”
It was a big deal on Saturday, as a parade of vintage Army vehicles passed by Sharp’s home in Windsor, a salute to wish him a happy birthday. He recalled the years following the war as “the best of times,” when education was readily available and opportunities were everywhere.
He said he was lucky to have lived through it and as he pondered his birthday, he offered an unusual salute to his parents:
“I’d like to say thank you Olive and Lowell for having sex and creating my life!” Sharp said.
Sharp will officially turn 105 on Wednesday. He said he thought somebody may be planning a special dinner for him, but he would rather just stay home. And he may have found the perfect partner, because at age 94, Michele Harris has an equally pragmatic attitude about why the couple is not getting married.
“Well, what’s the point at our age? I’m not apt to get pregnant. I don’t think there’s any point,” she said. “He doesn’t want to get married … You know, ‘Been there’ and ‘Done that.’ Dick’s only been married once, but I was married three times. So, you know, that’s it.”
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