Orange Beach, Ala. – (OBA) – Every first Saturday of the month former U.S. Army Rangers meet at base camp Flora-Bama but the Feb. 5 meeting was extra special for the namesake of Bama’s Ranger Base.

Gabriel Kinney, an Alabama native, celebrated his 101^st birthday surrounded not only by fellow Rangers but his wife, kids and numerous grand and great-grand kids. Kinney is one very few surviving members of the famous Merrill’s Marauders who had a long-running battle with the Japanese Army in India and Burma during WWII. (See more photos at the bottom of the story.)

A special request came from President Roosevelt to capture an all-weather airfield in Burma which would a vital resource for the war effort in southeast Asia. Kinney was one of 3,000 men who volunteered for the mission and they headed to India to train for the covert operation.

“At the time it seemed like a good thing to do,” he said of the volunteer mission.

In four months, they traveled up the Ledo Road 1,000 miles fighting running battles along the way with the Japanese. They had no tanks or other heavy equipment and all supplies were carried on their backs and on donkeys.

By the time the group reached the airport their numbers had shrunk to just 200 men while the rest were either killed in battle, got sick and succumbed to disease and/or starvation. Kinney says every member of the unit was wounded more than once during the mission.

Among the many accolades that came their way after the successful raid the group won the Presidential Unit Citation, six members received Distinguished Service Crosses, four earned Legions of Merit, 44 earned Silver Stars and every member received a Bronze Star. Thirty are now members of the Army Ranger Hall of Fame.

Flora-Bama CEO Cam Price is not only a former Ranger but a graduate of West Point as well following in the footsteps of his father who was also a West Point graduate and Ranger. The group meets monthly at noon at the Flora-Bama.