COLORADO SPRINGS — The Colorado Springs National World War II Aviation museum displays the many artifacts that helped lead the United States and its allies to victory. On Saturday, the museum celebrated one of the veterans that helped win the war — Monica “Nikki” Kinnaman — who has been soaring through 104 years.

“It’s a great honor. That’s all I can say it was unexpected.”

Kinnaman was in the British Royal Artillery defending the allies on the anti aircraft team.

Kinnaman hugs a friendly face during the birthday celebration. Credit: Rachel Saurer

“The women on those teams did not actually fire the gun, but rather did the calculations about where to point it, when the opposing airplanes were coming over, about what time to expect them,” said Gene Pfeffer, historian and curator at the aviation museum.

Kinneman would later enlist in the women’s army and later move on up in the ranks, making it to captain. By doing that, she effectively outranked the queen, who had enlisted for the war effort as well.

“The queen reached the rank of subaltern which is a British term for lieutenant. Well, Mrs. Kinneman was a captain so at that time she outranked Queen Elizabeth,” Pfeffer said.

A total of seven WW2 veterans came out, among a number of veterans from other wars as well. Credit: Rachel Saurer

While the surprise birthday party was to celebrate Kinnaman, the event as a whole was meant to honor all veterans who served in World War II.

Recognizing heroes like Cecil “the Diesel” Burner who enlisted at fifteen.

“I thought it was a pleasure to come. For them to realize we fought the war for them too,” Burner said.

He lied about his age, which got him into the war, but not on a battleship like he originally hoped. Instead, he was assigned to the USS Segundo, a submarine.

“I’d asked the chief of the boat, I said ‘where are we at’? And he said ‘we’re 350 feet under the water’. I said ‘how do I get out’? He said ‘you don’t get out’. I said ‘show me the way and I’ll go’,” Burner said.

There was a large turnout for the celebration of heroes, but there was still plenty of cake to go around. Credit: Rachel Saurer

Kinnaman said these events really show the bond that all the veterans continue to share throughout the years — even with ones that she hasn’t met yet.

“We get together as often as we can and yes I’m always very happy to meet other veterans,” Kinnaman said.

Pfeffer said the museum will have many more events coming up in the future as the weather begins to warm. For more information, click here.