(COLORADO SPRINGS) A 95-year-old Colorado Springs veteran got to celebrate his birthday by crossing an item off of the top of his bucket list. Not only did he cross an item off of his bucket list, he got to do it with his twin brother.
You might remember Robert and Dick Gibbs from our previous coverage of their birthday party earlier this month. The 95-year-old identical twins kept the celebration going on Monday, June 16, by visiting Seven Falls.
“We were apart for 70 years, and I thought, ‘well, it’d be nice if we spent our remaining years closer together.’ So that’s what we’re doing, and we’re enjoying life tremendously,” said Robert.
The Gibbs twins say they each spent 30 years fighting for our country.
“We both served in Korea. We were able to get together in Korea, Dick gave me a ride in one of his airplanes,” said Robert. “We both served in Vietnam at the same time, and I visited him while he was flying missions over North Vietnam, and he visited me while I was conducting operations on the Cambodian border.”
As a Purple Heart veteran, Robert says they both were always drawn to service.
“We spent time in the military because we were very proud of our country,” said Robert.
Regarding their time in the military, Dick added, “An honor, privilege, and I’m proud to have done it.”
While Robert became a helicopter pilot in the Army, Dick took to the skies as a fighter pilot in the Air Force.
“Wherever Uncle Sam needed somebody, to be in place around the Soviet Union, I was often there, all over the world… and then Vietnam came along and I ended up in combat for 100 missions over Hanoi. A lot of my friends, and in fact, close friends and relatives of Bob’s, didn’t come home immediately, or didn’t come home at all. I have friends, and Bob has family who spent four and five and six years in the prison camp,” said Dick.
Fast forward to today, the brothers are now neighbors at their independent living community in Colorado Springs.
“And we can occasionally watch Channel 21,” Dick laughed.
They said their secret to a long, happy, and healthy life is family and fun.
“Have a beautiful family, and as you get older, your family becomes more important than when you’re younger. Sometimes when you’re younger, you have to take care of them and discipline them and all that, but as you get older, they come in very nice,” said Robert.
“Live each day as if it were the end. Enjoy life all the way, and hope you get to be 95,” added Dick.
The two say they’re both in pretty good health, and they look forward to continuing to celebrate life together. As neighbors, they say every afternoon, Dick enjoys a cocktail, and Robert joins him with a glass of wine.
