This is a story that’s been told before.

That is to say that news stories about World War II veterans were a dime a dozen for decades, especially around Veterans Day or key anniversaries of that monumental conflict that changed the world.

Bill Newman knows this. But he also knows that at 100 years old, blessed with good health and a sharp mind, he’s one of a rapidly dwindling number of veterans who can still sit down with a reporter (or anyone else) and pass along firsthand accounts of one of history’s greatest struggles.

Consider the numbers. Of the more than 16 million Americans who served in WWII, about one million were still alive just ten years ago. It dropped to 300,000 five years ago. Today, depending on the source, there’s somewhere around 50,000.

To put it another way: 99.7 percent of them are gone.

Newman himself is not quite sure how he hit the century mark and outlived almost all his fellow vets, but he’s not complaining.

“I really don’t know. I smoked too much, I drank too much, I didn’t exercise very much and here I am,” he tells The Ticker from his comfortable corner room at the Grand Traverse Pavilions. “It’s absolutely marvelous…I have no idea what’s kept me going this long.”

As for those stories of the war, Newman was never convinced people really wanted to hear them anyway. They were best shared with and most appreciated by fellow veterans, he says. He doesn’t ever bring it up with anyone else.

“I don’t try to bore people…there’s no one who wants to hear our stories anymore,” he says. “We used to tell those stories to each other, but now all the 'each others' are gone.”

Newman was born and raised in Detroit and enlisted in the Army in at age 18 in December of 1943. He ended up in the Philippines, where he trained rigorously for a planned mainland invasion of Japan that never happened.

“My last practice jump was about the 25th of July in 1945, and we were within three weeks of an air and water invasion of Japan. The war ended in mid-August, so I just missed it,” he says. “The casualty rate would have been very high…so I was glad to not have to do any of that.”

But just because he never saw combat doesn’t mean he avoided danger.

“I put my life on the line 12 times going out the doors of airplanes,” he says.

Newman’s service didn’t really define him, he says. He was proud to do it and proud of everyone else “willing to stick their necks out,” back in the day, but it was his post-war life that gives him the most joy as looks back on his own personal century of life.

“I’m glad I (served), but it’s not a big deal. It was only two and a half years out of my life…for a lot of guys, that event was the capstone of their lives, and God, you’ve got to have more out of life than war battles,” he says. “I’m (most) proud of fathering a great family and marrying a good woman, and staying married.”

He had three children with his wife Muriel, who died last month at 96 (just shy of their 75th wedding anniversary) and went on to a long career in the insurance industry after going to Albion College on the G.I Bill. Bill and Muriel moved to Traverse City four years ago to be closer to family.

He’s also proud of his generation’s efforts to build a very strong post-war economy and make major strides in civil rights during the 1960s.

As far as Newman sees it, though, things aren’t going well today in the country he fought for. He expressed significant concern about President Donald Trump’s apparent disregard for the Constitution and is wary of future power grabs from the commander in chief.

“That's very much a concern, and I’m also concerned at the American people who are sitting by and letting this all happen,” he says. “There’s so many millions out there that think that everything that’s happening is just wonderful.”

He hopes the U.S. Supreme Court can stand as a safeguard to the president.

"We've got to see two things. We've got to see how strongly the Supreme Court can uphold the constitution, and how well he will obey what they say," Newman says. 

Asked what advice he would give young people in today’s America, Newman repeatedly encouraged them to stand strongly against bigotry and injustice.

“Ignore these bastards and do what’s right,” he says.