Lupe Gasca is a 104-year Marine Corp veteran and has quite the legacy

Lupe Gasca is a legend in the Marine Corp, a legend in life. As he will proudly say, he is "104 years old!"

The Details

He was an 18-year-old farmhand in Albert Lea, Minnesota, when he got the orders.

"Over the years, they had asked me, ' Why did you join the Marine Corps?' Then I tell them what I'm telling you, but I didn't want to be in the trenches."

With that, Gasca gained a lifelong title and lifelong friends.

"Easter Island, I went to the Fiji Islands. And then, from there, I went to Australia. Went down to Melbourne. And I spent six months in New Zealand," said Gasca.

Many a battle he would fight.

"I went to the Battle of Terawa, Saipan, Canyon, and Okinawa, and then I went through the occupation of Nagasaki Japan."

It was Tarawa that marked his body.

"I got hit, you know, hand grenade, and I spent three months in the hospital."

And it was an encounter with a baby that marked his mind. His men shot and hit a very unintended target.

"One of us hit the baby on the leg because the baby started crying, our baby started crying and we stopped right away. I think about this, this case."

He saw a lot, he saw Nagasaki, after the atomic bomb and ended his career in Okinawa.

"I'm glad I survived."

Lupe came back to Albert Lea and married the love of his life and started an automotive service in town and became a teacher.

He has 2 daughters, 5 grandkids and 12 great-grandkids and is in great health.