DALLAS — A century of living means Robert Armstrong has a century of stories to tell.
He just tells them a little slower these days.
A pilot during World War II and the Korean War, Armstrong is believed to be the only man still living who flew General Douglas MacArthur - the five star Army General who commanded U.S. troops in the South Pacific during World War II. MacArthur also led United Nations troops during the beginning of the Korean War.
“He was so eloquent,” Armstrong recalled.
Armstrong was in a photo that made the cover of a national magazine. It was snapped in Seoul, South Korea during the Korean War. MacArthur is in the passenger seat of a jeep and Armstrong is over his shoulder.
He remembers flying MacArthur and his wife multiple times to destinations all over the world.
“Most of the reporters and the news people hated him with a passion. One of the reasons was his vocabulary was so good,” Armstrong said.
Armstrong is not a native Texan, but he has spent more than 77 years here.
Texas is where he learned to fly, even though flying wasn’t something he chose. The military chose it for him.
He had joined the National Guard in his home state of New York. He trained with the guard for two years and just as orders to deploy arrived, his commanding officer told him he’d been selected for pilot training.
“I had no idea what a pilot even was!” he said with a laugh.
He was sent to Texas in the early 1940s to learn how to fly.
After rigorous training, he was trusted to fly not only General MacArthur, but also other VIPs and celebrities who visited troops.
He also critical flew life-saving missions.
He recalls a bloody battle in the Chosin Reservoir in 1951.
“Those guys were being shot to pieces,” he said of the U.S. Marines who were taking fire. He flew into rescue them.
“And when I got on the final approach — that means you’re committed to land in this space — either side of me were planes just like the one I had, they were burning,” he said. “I landed, turned around, and they tossed those guys in. About 30 of them, and I took off faster than I ever did.”
Each of his missions demanded courage, but Armstrong doesn’t like to think of it that way. He tells his war stories like he tells his life story – with modesty.
“If it’s to be, it’s up to me,” he said when asked how he was brave enough to do the things he did during war. “That was a phrase my wife had.”
He abides by that philosophy to this day.
And even with the wisdom of 100 years behind him, he’s still looking ahead.
“I really don’t think the end is here,” he said. “I’ve got things to do.”