SPOKANE, Wash. – A local veteran’s birthday gift is indicative of the lives he touched in his 100 years.
Bill Roth’s daughter posted a request for 100 cards for her father’s 100th birthday on Facebook, and the post was shared by both her friends and strangers. He already surpassed the 100 card goal.
Teachers and students at Harrington High School, Roth’s alma mater, also sent him cards.
Apart from his service in World War II, Roth has spent his entire life in the Inland Northwest. He was a member of the 8th Division, also known as the Abraham Lincoln Division.
“To get the purple heart I was…we went across the country in a convoy…We were going along a highway, and we just came through kind of trees and stuff, and we had just got out in the clear,” Roth said. “The Germans were in the town right before us and dropped a bomb right beside my Jeep. In fact, it was so much that I got a hole in my gas tank.”
He did not notice a head wound until a medic later turned the injury in for Roth’s medal.
Roth’s official birthday party is a few days away but celebrations have already begun.
KREM is challenging viewers to send another 100 cards for Roth to the station.
You can address the card:
Attn.: Bill Roth
4103 South Regal Street, Spokane, WA, 99223