HERO’S HAPPY 112th

Nation’s oldest living WWII vet celebrates b’day

The oldest living World War II veteran has celebrated another trip around the sun — his 112th, to be exact.

Lawrence Brooks was feted on Sunday with a birthday drive-by celebration outside his New Orleans home, with video showing the bespectacled

vet wearing a face mask and Saints jersey and waving to a small crowd from his porch.

Brooks — at right in 2019 with a photo of himself from 1943 — advised others to “serve God and be nice to people,” according to WDSU-TV.

Born on Sept. 12, 1909, Brooks served in the US Army from 1940 to 1945 as part of the predominantly African-American 91st Engineer Battalion. He was stationed in New Guinea followed by the Philippines and rose to the rank of private first class during the war.

Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards tweeted a photo of himself standing next to the vet on Sunday.

“Mr. Brooks, the entire state of Louisiana thanks you for your service and we all wish you a joyous birthday,” Edwards wrote.

A flyover of WWII-era aircraft was organized for Brooks’ birthday last year amid the COVID-19 pandemic, according to WPXI-TV.

After his 110th birthday, his daughter, Vanessa told NOLA.com that her father was blind in his right eye and his vision was failing in his left.

But his hearing, she said, was still remarkable, and he never suffered from heart problems, cancer or any other major ailments aside from low blood pressure and dehydration.

To celebrate that birthday, the National WWII Museum in New Orleans threw Brooks a party, where he was treated to a performance — and hugs and kisses — from the museum’s vocal trio, the Victory Belles.

According to the Veterans Affairs, which confirmed he is America’s oldest living veteran, Brooks was drafted by the Army in 1940. He trained at Camp Shelby in Mississippi and honorably discharged in November 1941.

But when Japan bombed Pearl Harbor in December 1941, Brooks was called back for service.

After the war, he returned home to New Orleans where he worked operating a forklift. He married and had five children and now has 13 grandchildren and 22 great-grandchildren.

He was widowed in 2005 when his second wife, Leona, died shortly after the couple was evacuated in a helicopter following Hurricane Katrina.

Sunday’s birthday event was also organized by the National WWII Museum in New Orleans.