Not many people make it to 100 years, but Andy Negra of the Skylake community in White County will reach that milestone on May 28.
Monday night, the White County Board of Commissioners honored the well-known local World War II veteran, issuing a proclamation designating May 28 as Sergeant Andrew “Andy” Negra, Jr. Day in White County.
Commissioner Terry Goodger read the proclamation highlighting Negra’s life as a soldier, career, and family man.
“We honor him for his service to the country, family, friends, and community,” said Goodger.
After the meeting commission meeting, Negra shared his philosophy of life.
“God only gave us one day at a time. He didn’t promise us tomorrow. He didn’t promise us anything other than that particular day, and he also says take care of yourself: If you can take care of yourself, you can take care of somebody else,” said the nonagenarian. “The main thing is take care of yourself. The second thing was have a positive attitude. If you harp on the bad things, it gets worse, but if you have a positive attitude and look around you and see the beauty of what God has provided for us you can’t help but enjoy life and get the best out of life.”
As part of his military service, Negra served in Normandy, France, where he landed on Omaha Beach on D-Day. Last year, he was able to return there for a celebration. He plans to return this year for the 80th year of freedom celebration.
