I have been asked that question numerous times, now that I’ve had my 99th birthday. Well, it is no secret, but many factors are involved.
The first and perhaps most important action to living this long life was to escape from Nazi Germany. Being Jewish in Nazi Germany could not provide you with the hope of longevity. I was born in 1925, and an immediate change came when Hitler assumed power. At age eight, I was already designated as undesirable. At age 13, along with my parents, I fled to the United States. We were on visitor’s visas and arrived at the end of October 1938. The next month, the Nazis implemented an anti-Jewish riot called Kristallnacht. All our relatives we left behind were in jeopardy, but President Roosevelt issued an executive order that stated no one in the country would be forced to return to Germany—we were thus saved.
The next step was to survive World War II. I was drafted one month after my 18th birthday in September 1943 and left to go overseas as an infantry replacement in September 1944. When I arrived in Belgium, it was recognized that I spoke German. A quick course in Le Vésinet, near Paris, made me an intelligence agent, and with only a few close calls, I survived the war without injury. After my graduation from college, I became a US Army officer, and near the end of my active duty, I served one year in the Vietnam War; again, a couple of close calls, but I survived. Thus, life continued.
Over the years, I had to escape from my genes. My father died of a heart attack at age 60, and my mother of a stroke at age 62. I started to experience high blood pressure as I entered my 50s. But I was able to get medications, which my parents never had. Listening to my cardiologist, I was able to adopt a daily regimen of blood pressure and cholesterol-suppressing medications. Since then, I have never missed a day without my medications.
I had to keep active. Until age 53, I was a member of the US Army. One of the army’s missions is to keep every member in good shape, one way or another—no problem on that job. Then, when I retired from active duty in 1978, I joined the administration of the University of Maryland. At that point, it became my own job to remain active. Commuting daily from Virginia to Maryland did not do it. I had to rise earlier each weekday morning and get to the nearby high school track and jog two miles. This continued until my second retirement at age 67 in 1992. At that point, I was told that jogging was too hard on my knees, and I had to slow down and walk. But I never stopped doing something. I became a volunteer. I was an active member of my civic association and became its leader. I became a soccer coach of my daughter’s soccer team from her 3rd grade to high school graduation and then stayed on for a few more years. I served on the Fort Myer Retirement Council from the days of my retirement until 2014. And until I moved in 2016 into The Fairfax, my retirement community, I walked two miles daily through the streets near my home. Now, at The Fairfax for the past eight years, I engage in 20 minutes of stretching exercises without ever missing a day. I also volunteered to be a member of the resident council as a building representative and as a committee chair until last year. Presently, I still serve on the speakers bureau of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, making presentations to students and to military and government members, telling them about my escape from Nazi Germany and my World War II experiences as an intelligence agent from 1944–46. I also write short stories, like this one, under the auspices of the Museum. My apartment at The Fairfax is about two blocks away from the community center where I eat my daily hot meal and pick up my mail. This requires more than 2,000 steps on a daily basis.
Last but not least, family must be considered. My wife, Paula, and I were happily married for 72 years until she died three years ago. My daughter, Laura, is now 60 years old—and both she and my wife were always supportive of whatever my role was in life. Without a supportive family, you cannot have a happy life. I had a happy life for all those years we were together.
Never stop working and never stop moving, that is the “secret” for my long life.
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