ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A local World War II veteran is turning 103 next Friday.

“I wondered if I’d make it, when I went through 100, I wondered, well, how many more?” Minnie Shipp said. “And my son keeps telling me, Mom, you’re here for a purpose.”

Minnie was a trailblazer during World War II, serving as one of the first women to join the Coast Guard when Congress created the U.S. Coast Guard Women’s Reserve.

“They treated us like royalty,” Minnie said.

She credits her bravery on the battlefield to the strength she still has today.

“You didn’t go running home to Mama when you stub your toe, if you know what I’m trying to say,” Minnie said.

Minnie is still very active. She doesn’t even have hearing aids.

“When new people come in, I don’t know them because I stay in my apartment a lot, but they all know me,” Minnie said. “That word gets around.”

So what’s her secret? She laid it all out on paper.

“It tells the routine that I have with everyday life,” Minnie said.

The first thing she mentions is her faith in God, but she highlights two very practical things everyone can do – drink more water and have a good breakfast.

“Every day is what you make it,” Minnie said.