A military career that started in World War II right after high school and spanned almost a quarter century is something to be celebrated, but when you take a closer look at Arizona resident Bill Kummer’s story, there are feats and providences that bring pause. And wonder.

There was the time in Korea, when he behind the controls of his helicopter managed to save 34 soldiers from the grips of death, immersed in a rushing stream after their aircraft had been shot down in enemy territory.

Or later in the same country and during the same war, when he gave a doctor a lift to the front lines, and found out the MD had brought him into the world — delivered him as a baby! — almost three decades prior.

“He was just floored. So were the generals nearby when we met,” Kummer told KTAR. “To walk up to a bird colonel when I was a lieutenant and say, ‘Hi doctor,’ that was kind of fun. So I took extra care of the doc because I didn’t want to bust him up for sure.”

There are, also, the straight facts of Kummer’s dedicated service. In the 24 years of him being a military man he managed to serve in not only the U.S. Army, but the U.S. Navy, the Air Force, the Marines and the Air National Guard as well.

Upon his discharge, Kummer, now 91, studied at UCLA, then spent a lifetime in education, working at a prep school in the Midwest. He also married a girl from Hawaii, and raised a family.

It was his daughter, actually, who recently got him a spot as the grand marshal in Phoenix’s upcoming Veterans Day parade.

“I had no warning whatsoever, and then they sprung it on me at a birthday party, and I thought ‘that little turkey.'”

“There are thousands of veterans around here and you can take your pick and choose. I’m humbled and very much surprised.”