ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. — A World War II veteran living in St. Augustine who served in the U.S. Navy is turning 101.
There will be a parade for Valeria Ryan 11 a.m. Saturday at Clyde Lassen Nursing Home.
Ryan was a welder prior to entering the Navy in 1942 when a steak dinner was $1.50, according to a press release. Ryan was asked to be on a team of a few selected women to teach the men how to land a bomb while being up in a blimp she was sent to Banana River, now Cocoa Beach, to do her training.
Ryan was born Jan. 22, 1923, in Albion, Michigan. She later raised seven children prior to entering nursing school at 48. She worked in nursing for 20 years. Ryan said that in the Navy were some of her best times in her life.
