Drinking beer will apparently keep you young — at least it has done so for WWII veteran Andrew E. Slavonic, who is celebrating his 102nd birthday on Dec. 1.
Slavonic, who went viral last year for drinking a Coors Light every day at 4 p.m. for over a decade, and his son Bob shared with Fox News how much the Pennsylvania centenarian’s life has changed since his modest Internet fame.
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“All I can say is that it has been one helluva of a year for dad. He has never had this much attention in his life. I really think he loves it,” Slavonic's son told Fox News.
“He has met various people around town that have come up to him and wanted to shake his hand and ask him if it really the one Coors Light that keeps him going. He says it is. We go to the local VFW Post 764 every Friday for dinner and everyone there just loves seeing him and talking to him,” he added.
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After his story was widely shared, Slavonic was even surprised with a beer fridge from MillerCoors and offered a trip to the Colorado headquarters, as well as apparel from the brand for himself and his family.
“He has met so many nice people over this past year and hopes to keep meeting more. It seems like wherever we go, we run into someone that has seen him on TV with the Coors Light,” his son shared.
Despite the newfound attention, Slavonic is keeping one ritual the same — his daily beer.
The centenarian started drinking a Coors Light at 4 p.m. every day 16 years ago, though he was a Coors fan long before that.
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“In 1996, he actually started drinking regular Coors beer,” Bob said last year, before his dad made the switch to the light American lager and discovered he actually prefers the taste.
Turning 102 doesn’t seem to faze the WWII Air Force veteran who served as a nose gunner on the B24 Liberator and top turret gunner on the B17 Flying Fortress and trained new pilots transitioning from two-engine to four-engine planes during the war. Instead, he’s been embracing his age — which his son shares most people can’t believe.
“When people ask me about my dad and I tell them that he is going to be 102, they just don't believe that he is that old but only looks like he is in his 70's,” Bob said of his spry dad.
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“As time goes on, there are not too many WWII veterans around, especially in Pittsburgh and that drink one Coors Light Beer every day at 4:00 pm, that is EST,” he added.
“But, as Jimmy Buffet says, it's 4 o'clock somewhere, oh wait, make that 5 o'clock somewhere. Maybe I need to have a talk with Jimmy and have him do another version of the song for 4:00 pm.”
Cheers to that.