'I want to dance': 100-year-old WW II vet ready to party for milestone in Palm Coast

When Mary German turned 100 earlier this year, the party with family and friends to mark the milestone was missing one essential element, according to the guest of honor.

“Where’s the dancing?” asked German, a lifelong practitioner of the art form. “I want to dance.”

Now, that wish will be granted when the World War II veteran’s centennial birthday is honored again with a celebratory dance party on Friday at the VFW Post No. 8696 in Palm Coast.

“Dancing came first, before the 100 years,” German said with a wry smile on a recent afternoon in her apartment at a Sanford assisted-living facility where she recently moved from her home in Palm Coast. “I can do them all, the tango, the merengue, the cha-cha, all of it.”

In addition to an obsession with fancy footwork, a skill that came naturally during her formative years outside Philadelphia, German offers other theories about the keys to her longevity.

“There are no secrets,” she said. “It’s just decent living. I drink only occasionally, a scotch and water, maybe a little glass of wine. I watch what I eat. With a tiny little frame like mine, it doesn’t take much to put on weight.”

Although diminutive in stature  — “I used to be 5’2’’ but I’m not sure what I am now”  —  German is equipped with an oversized personality that fills a room.

“She’s feisty,” said Ophelia Beier, among the leaders at American Legion Flagler Post 115 in Palm Coast that helped organize this weekend’s dance party. “She’s very people-oriented.”

For Beier, a military veteran and survivor of the 9/11 attack on the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., acknowledging German’s birthday milestone is more significant than showing off a few fun dance moves.

“It means a lot to me being a veteran myself,” she said. “I’m honored by even knowing her because she’s part of the Greatest Generation that ever was.”

For German, interest in military revolved around medicine

Born and raised in Bristol, Pennsylvania, German enlisted under her maiden name, Mary Schreiber, in the newly formed Naval Reserves WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service) program in 1943. She was 20 years old.

“I was very proud to be in the service,” she said. “I had always wanted to be a nurse, but my parents didn’t have the money to put me through school. When I found out they were taking WAVES into the Navy, I signed up. I loved my country and I wanted to do something for it.”

After basic training in New York, she was selected for medical duty and trained in Bethesda, Maryland, as a pharmacist’s mate. She finished her two-year stint at a U.S. Naval Hospital in Shoemaker, California.

In her apartment, a wall is lined with mementos of her service, including a vintage photo of her smiling in her Navy uniform, framed copies of her honorable discharge papers and American Legion lifetime membership certificate. A shadow box displays her military insignias as well as a letter from President Harry S. Truman thanking her for her service.

She credits her military experience for providing the foundation to weather the challenges and changes she has faced over the past century, a list that ranges from unimaginable advances in technology to personal losses that have included divorce and the loss of loved ones.

“I learned about people, I learned how to react to different things,” she said. “It was a good education for me.”

Although she has many memories to look back on, German doesn’t spend much time dwelling on the past, she said.

“I’m living for today,” she said. “I feel very much alive, so I thank God every day.

“I say my prayers and I thank him for life, for stability, for keeping me strong. Just give me a good dance and a good dance partner.”

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Palm Coast World War II vet marks 100th year with dance party