At 106 years old, two WWII veterans meet in Michigan

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — You don’t meet a 106-year-old World War II veteran every day — but this week, two of them met each other.

Robert Holt was on the Mid-Michigan Honor Flight to Washington, D.C., earlier this month. He served in Germany, and during his first mission, his truck hit a land mine and exploded. Holt was thrown from the truck but wasn’t injured.

Irene Hosking was supposed to be on the Mid-Michigan Honor Flight, but she wasn’t feeling up to it. She was a nurse who served in Australia.

This week, the two — who were born just 10 days apart in April 1918 — met each other in Owosso. They shared some laughs and talked about life in those days.

“Do you remember your first car that had a starter in it?” Holt recalled. “Crank it, run around to get in it, and then it’d start.”

The pair ended up talking for almost two hours.

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