KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Time keeps moving for Bob Garrett. He turns 98 in 11 days, but his memory is still sharp.
"When I reached my senior year, I was 17, but then I turned 18 in October and had to register for the draft," he said. "I ended up in Fort Bliss, Texas, in El Paso in the anti-aircraft artillery."
Garrett operated radar for a unit sent to England, France and Belgium, with the Battle of the Bulge unfolding. He took on German fire.
"In ducking for cover, I hurt my hand. It wasn't from gunshot or shrapnel, I just hurt my hand," he said.
After the war ended in 1945, Garrett was assigned to security forces in occupied German towns and oversaw a prisoner of war camp.
"We could look around in buildings that were bombed — pretty well destroyed," he said.
In gathering artifacts after the allied victory, he made sure to take a knife with the mark of the Third Reich.
"It's a souvenir from Germany, and I don't like knives. I don't," he said. "It's disgusting to think we had to go over there for that. You know, for Hitler."
Garrett saved portraits — photographed and painted from his three-year tour during World War II. And after the war, te took up photography.
"I even took weddings. I took several weddings, even," he said.
His career came before a 50-plus year marriage to a woman named Waldine, who passed away in 2015. Though he remembers her as if no time has passed since they were last together.
"She was just as beautiful inside, too. She was a perfect wife. She really was," Garrett said.
Even at 97, the veteran makes the most of his time. He spends some days with his friend Carol Knipp, whom he met delivering Meals on Wheels.
"Hugging Bob is like hugging my Dad, who I no longer have and was the best person I ever knew," Knipp said. "He's filled a void in my life, and I just love him."
Garrett said he feels the same appreciation and companionship for Carol.
Even though life stays busy, Garrett reflects on his service frequently, crediting his time overseas for defining his legacy.
"I'm pleased to have done that," Garrett said. "It didn't bother me going to service."
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