A Life’s Lesson From a Centenarian: Keep Moving

In the 80 years since he arrived in New York with only the clothes on his back, Antonio Rodriguez has retired from two different careers, served in two World Wars and seen 15 U.S. presidents.

In August, Rodriguez, of Torrance, celebrated his 100th birthday. And last month he received a medal from the Department of Veterans Affairs commemorating the 75th anniversary of the end of World War I. About 100 living WWI veterans in Southern California have been awarded the medals.

Rodriguez recalls standing shoulder to shoulder with other soldiers during his voyage to Europe in 1917 and scanning the Atlantic for enemy submarines in the wake of the sinking of the Lusitania.

The arrival of the Americans changed the way the war was fought, Rodriguez said.

Europeans had tended to stay in their trenches and not shoot until they were shot at, he said. “You get along family-like. You just stay in your trench,” Rodriguez recalled.

The Americans were more aggressive, advancing behind the cover of trees and bushes.

“Either you shoot or you get shot,” he said.

Rodriguez is the oldest resident of the Huntington Retirement Hotel, where he shares a suite with his wife, Augustina, 88. He’s one of the most active residents.

He rises at 6 each morning to press hot towels on his head and neck--a practice he credits with keeping his circulation moving and keeping him in form.

After his bath, he dresses and walks several blocks to Hawthorne Boulevard, where he stops to buy a plain doughnut. On his way back to the hotel he does his shopping at the grocery store and buys his daily newspaper.

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Although he occasionally can’t remember the name of a particular place or person, he easily remembers the day he enlisted in the Army (Dec. 5, 1914), the date he retired from the Army (it was four days after Franklin Delano Roosevelt died, April 12, 1945), and his 100th birthday (Aug. 23, 1994).

He arrived in New York after a turbulent childhood. He was born in a rural part of Puerto Rico. When his father died and his mother remarried, she sent him to an orphanage. At 18, he left the orphanage but returned there to work soon after.

The schoolmaster hired him to make shoes for the orphans--40 cents for small pairs and 50 cents for large pairs. After a year of making shoes, he had enough money saved to go to New York.

With some help from Puerto Ricans already established in the city, he found an apartment over a bar and shared the room with a schoolmate from Puerto Rico. For $4 a month they rented a room with one bed, lit by flickering gas lights. It was 1914, the same year the Model-T was introduced.

A few months later he saw a recruiting station, and within days he was signed up and shipped out to Galveston, Tex. During his 30-year military career, Rodriguez earned the rank of master sergeant, played clarinet in the Army band and saw Douglas MacArthur in Texas when MacArthur was a second lieutenant.

After retiring, Rodriguez returned to New York and started a career with the Postal Service. He and his wife lived near the city and raised two sons. Until he turned 70, he worked in New York City post offices.

At one point, the Postal Service transferred him to a new station because of the appointment of a new postmaster.

“It was after that young fella (John F. Kennedy) was elected; he wanted to make a job for somebody who worked for him on the campaign,” Rodriguez said with a smile.

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After finishing his second career, he moved to Manhattan Beach, following his son, who worked for Douglas Aircraft. (His other son is a lieutenant colonel in the Air Force, stationed in Korea). Rodriguez and his wife have lived in California for 26 years.

Last month he added the newest medal to his boxed collection, which hangs on the wall of his room. The velvet-lined case holds a silver star and medals for combat in Europe, including the battle of Verdun, France. He also holds medals for conspicuous service in World War II, and for being a crack shot with a rifle.

Above the case of medals, hang frames containing letters wishing him a happy 100th birthday--from Presidents Carter, Reagan, Bush and Clinton, and from the governor of Puerto Rico.

An enlarged photo of his 1935 wedding in New York City hangs on another wall of his neat room. In the photo, Augustina clutches a bouquet of calla lilies and beams at her uniformed husband.

Rodriguez says he’s too old to do much traveling now, although he plans to keep up his daily walks.

“He always goes to check and see that Hawthorne Boulevard is still there, that’s what he tells us,” said one nurse.