Iowa WWII veteran approaching 100th birthday honored in Cedar Rapids

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG) – World War II veteran Laverne Severson turns 100 years old on July 14. On Thursday, family, friends and fellow veterans gathered at the Freedom Foundation in Cedar Rapids to honor and celebrate the milestone birthday.

The National World War II Museum says fewer than 1% of World War II veterans remain alive.

Laverne served as a line medic during the war and was stationed in the Philippines.

“As soon as I turned 18, it didn’t take me about a month until I was going overseas,” Laverne said.

His son, Boyd Severson, recalled stories his father shared about life at his base.

“His base over there, he told me they would get air raids every morning. The Japanese would do an air raid and they’d have to run and jump into their foxholes. And this is stuff you see in movies, and he actually lived through this,” Boyd said.

Eric Parker, assistant director of the Freedom Foundation, said veterans like Laverne deserve recognition.

“As long as we are allowed to still be graced with their presence, then we need to just soak that up and just be really thankful,” Parker said. “There needs to be a remembrance and there needs to be a legacy there that we can honor.”

Boyd said the number of surviving World War II veterans in Iowa underscores the importance of events like Thursday’s celebration.

“Slowly but surely we’re losing this generation that, from what I’ve seen, there’s 250 to 275 surviving World War II veterans remaining in Iowa, and my father’s one of them and they all should be recognized. It all should be honored,” Boyd said.

And we had to ask…what’s the secret to a century of life?

“Crackers and peanut butter in the morning for breakfast!” Laverne said.