Spend just a little bit of time with Roy Caldwood Jr., and you'll quickly find out that he's lived a storybook life.
Caldwood served as a medic in the army's only black infantry division in World War II.
While he may not look it, he's 101 years old.
"It's true. It's true. I don't feel it. Well, I've never been that age before. So I don't know how I'm supposed to feel something that nobody told me," he said.
He never skips a workout, or a chance to work on his farm or give back to his community.
"I have a responsibility to keep my eyes and ears open and look around and see where there was a need where it is something that I can get into," he said.
That's why Caldwood is receiving his flowers.
Last April, ABC Action News shared how the City of Tampa proclaimed April 5th as Roy Caldwood Jr. Day.
This year, he'll help lead the Gasparilla Parade as the Community Hero.
That's two of many accolades, but the unfortunate reality is Calderwood didn't actually see most of those honors until he was about 98, when he moved to Tampa.
He returned from war to a segregated America. His accomplishments overseas were overshadowed by the color of his skin.
He recalled a moment before returning home as he was with the last batch of German prisoners of war.
"I said to myself, all of these guys can in a few years, make a trip to America. And when they get there, they're going to become one of them. They'll be fully accepted. And I said to myself, I will never be fully accepted. I will never be one of them," he recalled.
Better late than never, at the young age of 101, he's realizing that's not his reality anymore.
"Since that time when I came back, that's just how it was. Coming here to Tampa has been completely different," he said.
The Gasparilla Parade is on Jan. 27. Caldwood will be one of the leaders of that parade.
