World War II Veteran serves as Grand Marshall in Wellton parade

News 11's Samantha Byrd sat down with the Air Force vet and shares more about his long life

WELLTON, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) - A 102 soon-to-be 103-year-old World War II Veteran served as the grand marshall of this weekend’s Veterans Day parade in Wellton.

102-year-old Jimmie Robinson joined the Air Force at 21 years old serving our country for six years during World War II.

“My dad was in the Civil War, my older brother was in World War I and then I was in World War II,” said Jimmie Robinson, World War II Veteran.

Jimmie Robinson was born November 27th, 1920, just north of Little Rock, Arkansas, the youngest of 17 kids.

He joined the service on January 10th, 1942 during World War II.

“I got to go overseas on the Queen Elizabeth. 20,000 of us soldiers were on that one ship and I landed in Scotland," stated Robinson.

Now, he is one of the last two people left alive in his squadron.

“We were stationed in a little town called Raiden, England and we had to wait for our planes to be shipped over and then we were transferred over to the 8th Air Force," said Robinson.

Robinson was one of the 73,000 from the United States who landed in Normandy on D-Day on June 6, 1944.

He was the crew chief on the P-51 airplane.

“And we were there of course at D-Day and we had 11,000 planes in the air at one time on D-Day,” stated Robinson.

Robinson said he was not scared while at war.

“22 of those V-1’s come over me and the English shot them all down right around me, you could read the newspaper, and you know I can’t remember being scared," explained Robinson.

Now, as he is almost 103 years old, he said he’s living his best life in Yuma County as a member of the VFW in Wellton.

“It’s hard for me to accept that I’m 102, 103 years old. I don’t feel like it, I don’t think like it, and I still don’t act like it," said Robinson.