SENTENCED IN BOSTON NEXT WEDNESDAY. HE PLED GUILTY IN 2019. ERIKA: A SPECIAL BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION IN HUDSON. A WORLD WAR II VETERAN TURNED 101 YEARS OLD YESTERDAY. HE SPENT THE DAY TOURING THE AMERICAN HERITAGE MUSEUM. HE WAS A SERGEANT IN THE ARMY AIR CORPS AND WORKED ON THE ENOLA GAY, THE PLANE THAT WOULD DROP ONE OF THE ATOMIC BOMBS ON JAPAN WHICH LED TO THE END OF WORLD WAR II. HE SAID OUR FOREFATHERS PUT THEIR LIVES ON THE LINE TO DRAW UP THE CONSTITUTION AND BILL OF RIGHTS, AND THOSE ARE THE THINGS THAT NEED TO BE PROTECTED BE -- NEED TO BE PROTECTED. >> BE PREPARED TO FIGHT. FREEDOM IS NOT FREE. IF IT COMES TO THE POINT WHERE YOU GOTTA STAND UP AND FIGHT, YOU GOTTA DO IT. ERIKA: PHIPPS, WHO HAS A SON AND DAUGHTER, WAS MARRIED FOR MORE THAN 7 DECADES UNTIL HIS WIFE’S DEATH. HE URGES PEOPLE TE BE PREPARED

101-year-old WWII veteran visits American Heritage Museum

Updated: 11:41 PM EST Dec 29, 2022

A Massachusetts World War II veteran celebrated his 101st birthday by touring the American Heritage Museum.Russell Phipps, of Hopkinton, was a sergeant in the United States Army Air Corps and worked on the Enola Gay, the plane that would drop one of the atomic bombs on Japan, which led to the end of WWII. Phipps said our forefathers put their lives on the line to draw up the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, and those are the things that need to be protected."Be prepared to fight. Freedom isn't free," Phipps said. "If it comes to the point where you gotta stand up and fight, you gotta do it."Phipps, who has a son and daughter, was married for more than seven decades until his wife's death.He urges people to be prepared for "bumps" in life and to push through them.Watch the video above for the full story.

HUDSON, Mass. —

A Massachusetts World War II veteran celebrated his 101st birthday by touring the American Heritage Museum.

Russell Phipps, of Hopkinton, was a sergeant in the United States Army Air Corps and worked on the Enola Gay, the plane that would drop one of the atomic bombs on Japan, which led to the end of WWII.

Phipps said our forefathers put their lives on the line to draw up the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, and those are the things that need to be protected.

"Be prepared to fight. Freedom isn't free," Phipps said. "If it comes to the point where you gotta stand up and fight, you gotta do it."

Phipps, who has a son and daughter, was married for more than seven decades until his wife's death.

He urges people to be prepared for "bumps" in life and to push through them.

Watch the video above for the full story.