AURORA, Ohio (WJW)– Asa Newman, one of the last living Tuskegee Airmen, turned 102 on Thursday.
The celebration featured a parade, an honor guard and several proclamations. As police cars passed, Newman saluted each one.
Newman, born Sept. 24, 1918 in Cleveland, had seven siblings and is the last remaining member of his family. He graduated from East High School and the University of Chicago before enlisting in the U.S. Army in 1941. During his service, he flew to Casablanca, Morocco and Sicily, Italy.
After the war, he married Virginia and the couple had one child. He worked for the IRS and the University of Chicago, where he operated an atom smasher.
Earlier this month, Home Instead Senior Care solicited cards for his birthday, receiving more than 3,800 from all 50 states and the United Kingdom.
The Tuskegee Airmen, named for the Alabama city where they trained, were the first black military aviators in the U.S. Army Air Corps. They flew more than 15,000 attacks in Europe and North Africa during World War II.