KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — A Knoxville World War II veteran marked a special milestone on Wednesday when he turned 100 years old.
"I feel like I'm in good health," said Albert Gill, who served as a navigator aboard a B-24 bomber. "The good Lord has been looking after me."
Gill is keeping busy by picking up a hobby of building model airplanes, and he's built many of them. He said he has built around 150 model planes, carefully assembling the pieces by hand. He also said that he doesn't plan to stop making the planes anytime soon.
"My old hands are kind of hard with some of the small parts, but I make it okay," he said.
In World War II, in his early 20s, Gill served as a navigator aboard a B-24 bomber and recorded 43 combat missions in the Pacific Theatre. At the top of his model plane collection sits a B-24 replica.
"It's my favorite plane," Gill said.
When he creates some of the planes, he said that it reminds him of his past accomplishments.
"I was in the first group of aviation cadets to come to the University of Tennessee," Gill said.
Gill said he has come a long way and he's thankful for all that's happened in the last 100 years.
"I never thought I would be thinking about 100. I'm glad I made it and I have a good life and raised a good family," Gill said.