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!" 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. In: Veterans Day Albert Lea Veterans United States Military United States Marine Corps Featured Local Savings