Local World War veteran celebrates 100th birthday

The Georgia War Veterans Nursing Home hosted the 100th.^th Marvin Armour’s birthday, Friday afternoon.

In addition to family and friends, the Navy veteran was visited by members of the Kappa Lambda Chi military fraternity, who presented him with a certificate of appreciation for his service. Retired Navy Captain Jim Packett, representing the Surface Navy Association, presented him with a shirt and plaque commemorating the USS Salamonie, the ship he served on during World War II. He was also presented with Navy-themed memorabilia by representatives of Service Alliance Uniting Together (SALUTE), a Kimberly-Clark employee resource group focused on supporting veterans.

Armour also received a letter of thanks from Congressman Rick Allen.

His son, David Armour, noted that his father had only recently begun talking about his experiences in the war, including “island hopping” from Australia to the Philippines, and that his cousin was one of the “Angels of Bataan,” members of the Army and Navy Nurse Corps who continued to serve as nurses while prisoners of war.

Marvin Armour attributes his longevity to simply living “one day at a time.”

Skyler Q. Andrews is a staff reporter at The Augusta Press. You can reach him at [email protected].