Papillion veteran who crawled through wall of fire in WWII celebrates 100th birthday

[Omaha Steve]

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Steve Liewer Feb 14, 2022 Updated 5 hrs ago

As Lt. Ellis McClintick, 22, eyed the wall of oxygen-fueled flame blocking the only exit from his burning B-17, his odds of living another five minutes seemed low — much less making it to 100.

Yet here he is, 78 years later — 50 years after retiring from the Air Force at Offutt Air Force Base as a colonel — celebrating his 100th birthday. Friends and many of his descendants (four children, eight grandchildren, 16 great-grandchildren and 1 great-great-grandchild) gathered Sunday at an American Legion post in his adopted hometown of Papillion.

Also at McClintick’s side was his longtime lady friend, Bonnie Heald. She turned 100 on Dec. 26, beating him to the century mark by less than two months.

“We were all lucky to be able to finish World War II,” McClintick said last week, “and (I was) lucky to have a 100-year life.”

FULL story: https://omaha.com/news/local/papillion-veteran-who-crawled-through-wall-of-fire-in-wwii-celebrates-100th-birthday/article_11a843c4-893f-11ec-ac19-8b281d55fb38.html#tracking-source=home-top-story