World War II veteran Harold Gary was surprised with a birthday parade in Montrose on Thursday, May 28 in celebration of his 99th birthday. STAFF PHOTOS/STACI WILSON
Harold Gary thought he would be spending his 99th birthday by himself.
Instead, the World War II veteran was surprised by a parade of cars on Church Street in Montrose on Thursday, June 2, offering up birthday greetings.
“I was surprised,” admitted Gary. “I thought I was going to be alone all day. Nobody told me.”
In order to have him outside the Montrose Square apartment building to see the parade held in his honor, family members invited him out to the parking lot for cake and ice cream.
“All of a sudden they took my ice cream away and 
told me to get on the sidewalk,” he said. “Then the horns started going.”
Over 100 people participated in the parade, said Patti Jo Caterson, who was Gary’s companion on an Honor Flight where the two became friends.
“Considering the virus, they did pretty well,” Gary said, after the string of cars concluded.
Gary served in the U.S. Navy Air from 1942-1945.
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