(Portage, IN) - A northwest Indiana man still with a vice grip-like handshake and sharp mind was preparing for possible combat duty when World War II ended.

 

Walter Spuck, 94, was recognized during Portage's annual Memorial Day ceremony.

 

He and his also spry wife Dolly, 92, were among the well over 100 people at Founders Square for the ceremony where Congressman Frank Mrvan of Highland was the keynote speaker.

 

The audience responded when Mrvan encouraged applause for the longtime married couple at the ceremony every year.

 

"I've been around a little bit," said Spuck, who credited staying active by doing things like bowling for his long and still healthy life.

 

Spuck, who grew up in Chicago, was 17 and in boot camp with the Marines when the war with Germany ended in 1945. He served his country for four years and later relocated to Portage, where he drove a truck delivering groceries.

 

He held that job for 34-years before retiring in 1989.

 

Spuck said his late brother, Richard, survived the infamous Battle of the Budge, widely viewed as the beginning of the end of the war because of heavy casualties especially for the Germans during the over six week offensive.

 

"He killed five Germans. He wiped out a machine gun nest," he said.

 

Spuck also revealed his brother-in-law, Richard Eckenstahler, came back from the war safely after being taken as a prisoner by Germany.

 

"They're both gone now, so here I am," he said.

 

Mrvan said freedoms Americans enjoy are valued across the globe but sometimes taken for granted here. He said Americans should never forget the men and women driven by a strong faith and belief in the country to fight and lose their lives for it.

 

"They're not there for their children. They're not there for their wives and husbands. That sacrifice equates to our freedom and the greatness of this nation," Mrvan said.