Daniel Montes, 91, loves to dance and volunteer with non-profit groups to restore historical buildings and homes in Brownsville.
He’s energetic and active and most importantly, he’s a World War II U.S. Navy veteran.
"There's a lot of planes flying all over but we were so busy so we didn’t know exactly what happened,” Montes recalled. “In the books now, they tell us how serious it was, but when you're in action, you're too busy defending yourself."
On the anniversary of the 9/11 terroristic attacks, Brownsville officials, community members and fellow veterans, honored Montes and gifted him his own American flag to hang outside his home.
He said he’ll salute it every day.
"We should salute our flag, whether we have our caps on or without,” Montes said. “We're supposed to salute our flag to respect that flag."
The Navy veteran may have finished his active duty decades ago, but he's just as involved in the current war in Afghanistan.
He said two of his grandchildren are active servicemen – one is a Navy Seal.
"The current war that we are in right now, I didn’t think it was going to last that long, but we (have the right) to fight with them because of the damage they've done on the towers," Montes said.
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