NEW YORK — On this Veterans Day, a 100-year-old veteran is sharing her story of serving in the Coast Guard during World War II.
Peggy Brown, 100, is a Western New Yorker who says she's proud to have served our country.
"I'm very proud of the fact that I did serve and the country prevailed and we kept away the enemy," Brown said.
Brown served in the U.S. Coast Guard from 1943 to 1946. She was ranked Storekeeper First Class.
"Being in the military was very significant and very needed,” she said. “A lot of people didn't realize that that coast is all well-protected."
Brown was stationed in New York City. She remembers being sent down to the harbor with a secret message.
"Almost without hesitation they said, ‘Let’s send Thompson,’” she said, referring to her maiden name. “I wasn’t married yet. I was very welcome aboard because they knew that I had a message that only could travel from mouth to mouth."
Brown said it was a difficult, but crucial time in the nation’s history.
"The whole secrecy of the war system was very important to us in protecting the East Coast of the United States from anybody getting close to it,” she said.
In 1946, she went to the victory parade that traveled down Fifth Avenue in New York City.
"It was the end of the war and many of us…felt like going down Fifth Avenue because that’s what we had been singing about, that we're going to march down Fifth Avenue and tell everybody how wonderful it was to be…we're very proud of America," she said.