When he served in World War II, Harry Dyer was a member of "The Hump," a unit charged with transporting materials from India to China over the Himalayan mountains. He served from 1942 to 1945 as an aerial engineer before returning stateside to raise his family in Elizabethtown.

On Jan. 5, Harry celebrated his 102nd birthday with a party at Elizabethtown Nursing and Rehab Center, where he lives. More than 30 people attended, including representatives of the Mount Joy Fire Department, Northwest EMS, American Legion Posts 185 and 466 and the Rheems Fire Department, along with residents at the retirement community.

"I was so surprised by the party," Harry said. "I didn't expect this many people. I want to thank everybody for coming."

The party was organized by Sara Gutshall, a longtime member of the American Legion Auxiliary Unit 809 in Maytown. She got to know Harry during visits she made to local retirement homes over Christmastime. "I had been going for years to bring veterans Christmas bags from the Auxiliary," Gutshall shared. "I would sit with them and listen to their war stories." COVID put a pause on the visits, but Harry was still on Gutshall's mind. She couldn't mark his 100th birthday because of pandemic restrictions, so she focused on his 102nd this year. "The Lord just laid this on my mind to do this, and I prayed about it and decided to do it," she said.

The party began with the crowd singing "Happy Birthday" as Harry walked into the community room at the facility. Elizabethtown Mayor Chuck Mummert sang the national anthem, "The U.S. Air Force" and "God Bless America." Nila Grose crocheted a prayer shawl for Harry and presented it to him, and Gutshall asked veterans in attendance to identify themselves and their branch of service. State Rep. Tom Jones read and presented a citation to Harry from the House of Representatives, followed by a presentation of a blanket, certificate and challenge coin from David Chobanoff of Blankets of Honor, an organization that recognizes veterans for their service.

"We are here to honor a true American hero, a WWII vet," Chobanoff said. "There's not too many of them left."

The Rev. Peter Ogilvie presented Harry with a flag pin and led a prayer, and then the party concluded with Harry opening gifts before cake and punch were served.

Among the gifts Harry received were more than 150 birthday cards. "My goal was to get to 102 cards, but I actually got more than 150. Harry has to live to 150 now," Gutshall said with a laugh.

Harry has two children and three grandchildren, and his younger son, Kelvin Dyer, attended the party.

Asked what the secret to his dad's long life was, Kelvin noted that Harry, who worked as a farmer in his 20s before the war but retired from Black + Decker after 30 years of service, grew his own vegetables for much of his life. "He ate more vegetables than anyone I knew," Kelvin shared.

Harry, however, had a different view on the secret to his longevity. "This medicine," he said, lifting a box of chocolate-covered cherries he received as a birthday gift. "That's the secret."