WW II veteran, John Mahler celebrated his 102 birthday with a drive-thru parade in his honor at the Butler VA, Thursday, November 12, 2020.

More than a century old, uppermost on World War II veteran John Mahler’s mind is making new friends to replace the old ones he’s lost and having a fun. albeit quiet, time.

And on Thursday he got to do both of those things when friends and family ambushed him in front of the Abie Abraham VA Health Care Center for a surprise birthday party to mark his 102nd year. Mahler was born in Butler on Nov. 12, 1918, a day after World War I ended and during World War II he piloted B-17 bombers. To mark his 102nd birthday, Mahler was tricked into thinking he was going to the VA center for an appointment but as his youngest daughter, Marianne Kern, 66, of Florida, drove up to the building, he was greeted by a dozen people holding up birthday signs for him.

“I was 100 percent surprised,” Mahler said after. “I didn’t know what these people were doing here. I couldn’t belive it, all my friends visiting. I can’t say how grateful I am.”

This is an excerpt from a larger article that appears in Friday’s Butler Eagle. Subscribe online or in print to read the full article.