<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">Philip Krausman, a World War II veteran and Lake Charles resident, turns 100 today, also the day of his mother’s birthday.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">His first memories involve the “last supper” before his mother’s funeral. He was 2</span> <span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">1</span><span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">⁄</span><span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">2</span> <span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">when she died.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">“I don’t remember her,” he said. “I remember I was walking around; I was starting to walk and holding onto people’s clothes, saying, ‘Mama, mama.’ ”</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">He can also remember a time when there were no cars on the streets, but instead, horses and buggies and men whose jobs were to pick up the horse droppings. He said one fun fact about his Lithuanian family is that his brother owned a speakeasy.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">Krausman grew up in Baltimore as one of seven children and was raised by one of his sisters after his father died when Krausman was only 8. If his sister had not decided to be his caretaker, he would have been sent to an orphanage, he said.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">She took care of him until he turned 18. At age 19, Krausman was drafted into the Army for one year.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">“The next December, I was running around going, ‘Only one more month to go,’ ” he said. Soon after, war was declared.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">Before going into the Army, Krausman worked as a medical attendant. In the army he was ranked T5 and then sent to Columbus, Ga. for basic training with the Second Armored Division.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">Krausman said when a vacancy opened in the Third Armored Division he was transferred to Fort Polk as a staff sergeant. This was due to his medical experience.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">“I was in charge of 17 men, three officers, an ambulance, a two-and-a-half ton truck and a jeep,” he said.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">Krausman and the others went to England, and, from there, they invaded France, traveled through Belgium and ended up in Germany.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">While he was in Germany, the war ended. When they were able to take the boat back home, Krausman said he was fearful the Germans would still attack because the message “may not have been conveyed.”</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">Today, Krausman considers himself a healthy man. Every day, Krausman rides his two exercise bikes for at least 30 minutes.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">He is married to his second wife, Kay, who was good friends with his first wife of 55 years before she passed away of a brain tumor.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">He jokes that he still has at least 10 more years to live because Kay has that long before she is eligible for Social Security.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">Krausman boasted that he still had his driver’s license and only takes preventative medications.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">“Before I turned 65, I drank anything that came along, smoked anything: pipe, cigars, tobacco,” he said. At 65, he had a wake up call from a doctor and had surgery to remove two clogged arteries.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">Longevity does run in the Krausman family; he said that recently one of his sisters died at the age of 108.</span>

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</span><p>Philip Krausman</p>