103-year-old veteran celebrates her birthday with beer and crab cakes

A war veteran showed she has lost nothing of her feisty spirit by celebrating her 103rd birthday with crab cakes and beer.

Mother-of-two Mary Barnes, who lives in The Virginian senior living community in Fairfax, Virginia, marked her birthday in style on January 15, saying ‘nothing tastes better at a party’ than the fishy dish and a pint.

Mary, who enrolled in the Navy in 1942 and was stationed in Ford Island in Hawaii, later travelled back home to Virginia before moving to Ann Arbor, Michigan, where she met her husband Fred. The couple had two children, Martha, 66, and Mark, 73.

The boisterous 103-year-old had a hard time when Fred died on Valentine’s Day in 2011, but looks for the good in life, and joked God is keeping her around so she can keep her children out of trouble.

Mother-of-two Mary Barnes, who lives in The Virginian senior living community in Fairfax, Virginia, marked her 103rd birthday in style on January 15

Mary, who was born Mary Feldman in Danville, Virginia, in 1920, has won everyone over at her senior living facility, thanks to her lust for life and positivity.

But as her daughter Martha revealed to The Washington Post, the veteran’s start to life was not an easy one.

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Source: NHS

‘My mom has always told me the secret to her longevity is that God wants her around to make sure she keeps me and my brother out of trouble,’ Martha said.

Mary grew up during the Great Depression and had to care for her mother who suffered severe burns in a coal furnace accident. Meanwhile, her father died of appendicitis n 1930 when she was 10.

Mary was one of three siblings, and her family, who didn’t have any benefits or any form of government help, managed to make a meager income from running a milk pasteurizing business.

While the family didn’t have much, they felt more fortunate than others, and Mary remembered her grandmother would make biscuits to give hungry people every morning.

Aged 22, Mary enlisted in the Navy, and was assigned to the accounting department on Ford Island in Hawaii, a year after Pearl Harbor was bombed by the Japanese Army.

Mary explained she was one of the first WAVES (Woman Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service), a faction introduced by the FDR after he signed the Navy Women’s Reserve Act into law in July of that year.

During her time in the Navy, Mary had to deal with the sexist attitude of the servicemen working with her in the military, which was commonplace at the time.

Her daughter Martha revealed how married man who make passes at Mary and her coworkers, and how one woman who worked in accounting would check the men’s files to see if they were married based on whether they got marriage reductions off their paychecks.

When a male colleague told Mary she only joined the Navy to find a husband, she smartly replied that he was right, but that she wouldn’t be marrying him.

After 4 years and a half, including three and a half spent in Hawaii, Mary eventually met her husband Fred.

The World War II veteran marked the milestone birthday with chocolate cake, crab cakes and beer, pictured

At the time, Fred was working in a restaurant in Ann Arbor, Michigan, where she had just found accounting work thanks to a friend, and he fell for Mary on sight.

The pair dated, and eventually moved to Danville and tied the knot there. Fred jointed the Department of Defense, while Mary worked as secretary for Fairfax County Public Schools.

Martha admitted the family sometimes struggled financially, but Mary taught her children to enjoy the simpler pleasures of life, and passed on her love of the outdoors to them.

Her son Mark, who is a retired attorney living in San Francisco, said he struggles to believe his mother is 103, and added she still has some good years ahead of her.

Her daughter Martha said that Mary’s life wasn’t always easy, but praised her Navy veteran mother for being courageous

Mary said she stays alert by keeping a busy social life at The Virginian, and indulges in a glass of wine or some beer here and there.

While the death of her husband in 2011 was a rough patch, Mary, who doesn’t have any grandchildren, explained she has since learned to enjoy her days again, and looks for the positive in life.

Her friends at the Virginian and Martha organized her weekend birthday bash, and Mary confessed she is looking forward to turning 104 next year.

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Read more at DailyMail.co.uk