Nearly 80 years later, his memories remain crystal clear.
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"I was at UCLA when I enlisted in the Navy in May of 1942," said Copenhafer. "Got in a lot of action; we were in a lot of places, had a lot of guns firing."
For at least a couple decades, Copenhafer would celebrate reunions with his fellow service members. Those days ended long ago.
"Eventually there weren't enough people left to have a reunion and by now there aren't any of them left. I think I'm the only one left out of that crew that was on the 286 during the war. That's what happens when you out live everybody," he said.
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"He was really hoping he'd make it to 100," said Deborah Ann Iacobucci, Copenhafer's niece. "My cousin and I joke all the time that he's probably going to outlive all of us."
And to have all these people show up to celebrate, even from a safe distance, he can hardly believe it.
"I'm just so surprised that many people are so interested in a 100-year-old geezer that happened to be a World War II veteran," said Copenhafer.