Big bash planned for 100-year-old veteran
SAXONBURG — They’ve got quite the production planned for George Pann’s birthday Friday. There will be a petting zoo, his niece is coming to share his favorite dinner with him and there will be a visit by the Cabot Cruisers car club to wish him many happy returns.
Of course, it’s not every day that a resident of Magnolia Place, 100 Bella Court, turns 100.
Pann, who’s lived in Magnolia Place for three years, said reaching this milestone was unexpected.
“No, I never thought to 100,” he said, adding he feels good for a man his age despite having to use a wheelchair or a walker following an accident that left him with a broken hip.
Asked what he would attribute as the cause of his long life, Pann said, “I never ate much. I ate small meals. I walked a lot. I was on the go all the time.”
There might be something to that, because Pann is the only one of the nine children of George and Rosa Pann of Glassmere in Allegheny County still alive.
“He’s an awesome guy,” said Amie Feeney, director of quality assurance at Magnolia Place. “He’s very humble.”
In addition to the petting zoo, Feeney said a special meal, as well as visits from the Cabot Cruisers and the American Legion Riders from Zelienople, will mark the occasion.
“George’s niece, Joyce Fritch, told me she’s going to be there,” Feeney said. “We’re going to have steak and shrimp and twice-baked potatoes as George’s birthday meal. It’s his favorite.
“The petting zoo is going to be outside his window. We’re going to have the Cabot Cruisers come by around 6:15 p.m. The Boy and Girl Scouts are coming, as well as a representative of the mayor. George will get a plaque and a proclamation on behalf of Saxonburg.”
It could be that all the fuss is an acknowledgment that Pann is one of a dwindling number of survivors of World War II.
Nineteen-year-old George Pann was an Army gunner stationed with a coastal artillery unit at Fort Ruger on the volcanic mountain of Diamond Head on the Hawaiian island of Oahu on Dec. 7, 1941, when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor nearly 15 miles away.
Pann could see the attack taking place. He and his battery mates were ordered to take their guns and dig in on the beach in anticipation of a follow-up invasion after the air attack.
"The lieutenant told us ‘wait until you see the boats coming in and then start firing,’" he said.
"I was scared, yes, we were waiting for an invasion, but it never came," Pann said.
The Japanese land forces never arrived, but Pann later took part in invasions of Japanese-held territories across the South Pacific during the course of World War II.
When he got out of the Army Pann returned home, where he got a job at the Creighton PPG glassworks, a position he held for 38 years.
Asked about what he remembers the most about his century of life, Pann said it would have to be Pearl Harbor.
On that hectic day, he said he and his fellow soldiers did not let fear take hold; they had a job to do. “We really didn’t think about (the danger). We were too busy. Our guns were on the base, and we had tractors to pull them to the beach.
“We were busy working, getting our guns in position,” he said.
Three years ago, Pann came to live at Magnolia Place, a personal care home with 43 residents.
Asked if he had any advice for those who want to make it to their 100th birthday, Pann said, “Don’t eat too much. Exercise is very good.
“I never smoked except for a little bit. I would say I didn’t drink very much. After the war, I had a little beer, but I stopped that,” he said.
Any regrets? “I don’t think I missed out on anything,” he said.
