A West Sacramento man and United States Army veteran celebrated his 100th birthday surrounded by friends and fellow veterans at his senior living community of Eskaton Wilson Manor on Thursday afternoon.
Minoru “Mino” Ohye had one wish for his milestone birthday: to receive 100 birthday cards to celebrate each year of his life.
By the end of his party, he had already gotten nearly 600 cards.
“Several years ago, I asked him, I said, ‘What’s your goal, Mino?’ And he said, he wants to be 103,” said Alfonso Linares, with a laugh, who has been friends with Mino for 40 years and is the closest thing he has to family in town.
Mino was celebrated with birthday cake, a sushi lunch provided by Mikuni and a crowded room of supporters.
John Meugniot is a fellow U.S. Army veteran who came to celebrate Mino’s birthday.
“I still enjoy being able to bond with the veterans. It’s a community, that’s it,” said Meugniot. “You know, to get to help out each other through the hard times and the good times.”
Linares said Mino used to be his gardener, then they got more connected through the West Sacramento VFW post and have since become very close.
“I’ve never seen him get angry with anybody. He’s very easy to get along with…Everybody loves Mino, you know,” Linares said.
Mino’s story is so rare that he is likely the only person alive to have experienced what he has.
He was born in Sacramento in 1926, but when his father died in a tragic fishing accident, he and his brother were sent to live with different family members in Japan when they were just babies.