Second World War Veteran Turning 101 Seeks Birthday Cheer

Second World War Veteran Turning 101 Seeks Birthday Cheer
Drew Van Voorhis
6/13/2021
Updated:
6/14/2021

A World War Two veteran who turns 101 on Flag Day is asking fellow Lake Forest, Calif. residents to help celebrate by sending him 101 birthday cards.

Frank Wendzel, an Army Air Forces Captain during the Second World War, was born June 14, 1920.

After joining the Army Air Forces in 1941, Wendzel served at various locations throughout the United States and also flew B-17 airplanes, according to a Veterans Affairs blog. He also took part in Operation Crossroads, a pair of nuclear weapons tests in Bikini Atoll in 1946.

For his service, he received an American Campaign Medal, a European-African-Middle East Campaign Medal, a World War Two Victory Medal, and Overseas Service Bars.

After his time in the military, Wendzel worked for NASA, where he helped with Project Mercury, NASA’s first man-in-space program. It had the objectives of orbiting a manned spacecraft around Earth,  investigating man’s ability to function in space, and recover both man and spacecraft safely, the blog said.

In a post on the City of Lake Forest’s Facebook page, a photo of the centenarian holding a bright green poster board writes, “I am a proud WWII vet. I will be 101 years old on Flag Day, June 14, 2021. I would love to receive 101 cards for my 101st birthday.”

Last year for Wendzel’s 100th birthday, he was able to go outside for the first time since the beginning of the pandemic. He celebrated his milestone birthday with a car parade from veterans groups. He was also nominated as a community hero by the city of Lake Forest.

He received more than 1,200 cards from members of the community last year.

Those that would like to send Wendzel a birthday card are asked to send the cards to:

Captain Frank Wendzel

Freedom Village Health Center

23442 El Toro Road, Bldg. 2

Room 139-B

Lake Forest, CA 92630

Drew Van Voorhis is a California-based daily news reporter for The Epoch Times. He has been a journalist for six years, during which time he has broken several viral national news stories and has been interviewed for his work on both radio and internet shows.
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