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FAIRFAX CITY, VA — For the 10th year in a row, U.S. Navy veteran Glenn Ward celebrated his birthday at the Hooters in Fairfax City. But this year was a little different, because on Friday, the Arlington resident turned 100.
Friends and family members from California, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Nevada showed up at the Hooters on Fairfax Boulevard for a party that included balloons, cake and chicken wings.
Hooters waitress Britney Lee sang the national anthem, which brought tears to Ward’s eyes. A color guard from American Legion Post 177 in Fairfax City also came to help Ward mark the special day and to acknowledge his long career in the U.S. Navy.
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At 17, Ward dropped out of college to enlist in the Navy, following the Dec. 7 attack on Pearl Harbor. During World War II, he served as a radioman and was a naval aviator during the Korean War. As an air officer, Ward conducted combat operations in the Vietnam War. Ward retired after 30 years of service in 1974, having completed 4,300 flight hours and hundreds of combat missions.
Hooters regional manager Neil Mowery didn’t know anything about the nine previous birthday parties Ward had at the restaurant. But, when he heard that about Ward’s military service, he wanted to get involved.
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“I didn’t get wind that he was a three-war vet until seven days ago,” Mowery said. “To me that’s what makes this double-triple special, because I also served. In the last seven days, we tried to build this up as big as we could.”
Ward credited this longevity to his mother.
“She was a great cook. She saw that we had proper food when I was young,” he said, looking around the room. “What a fantastic crowd there is here. Oh my God.”
Gibbs said the reason her father celebrated his birthday at Hooters was that he liked hot wings. “At that age, he can’t taste a whole lot, but he can taste spicy wings,” she said.
Gibbs also shared that it was her father’s goal was to make it to 100, because he was going to be buried at Arlington National Cemetery with a horse-drawn caisson.
“They won’t allow this, but he said he always wanted to make it to 100 so that we could slap a sign on the horse’s butt that says, ‘Glenn Ward made it to 100 and he’s still horsing around,'” she said, with a laugh. “Because he’s got a sense of humor.”
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