DARBOY, Wis. (WFRV) – Call it fate – or just a funny coincidence. Ninety-nine-year-old LaNore Anderson joined the U.S. Coast Guard the same day as one of her friends joined the navy.

“I said, ‘Well, I joined the Coast Guard!’ Same day, neither of us had talked it over or anything,” she said.

But there was more to it than just a whim; her brother was unable to serve, so Anderson decided to step up.

“I think you know, you see what’s going on and think, ‘We have to do something,’ And I felt that was one of the answers for me,” Anderson said.

Anderson attended UW Madison for a year before the life-changing decision stationed her in Florida, and then California during WWII.

“In San Francisco, we rode the cable cars down to work every day. We worked in the office and checked letters, and I was there for three years,” she recalled.

Censoring mail from military personnel to keep intelligence out of the hands of enemy spies, Anderson eventually met her husband Hanford, who was serving in the Army Air Corps.

Eighty-two years and eight children later, Anderson wouldn’t change a thing.

“I think you learn to live with what you have. I had good roommates, good friends, it continued after we left California. I wouldn’t hesitate; anyone thinking about joining because it was rewarding. I think I had the right idea, about it. I’m not sure, but for me it was right,” she said.