Robert Lee Nichols has seen and done a lot in his 97 years. He served in the Navy for 27 years. He has lived all over the world.

As a young Naval officer, he voyaged to Antarctica

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"We in fact sprung leaks in our ship all the ships, got some damage going thru the ice and pressure of the ice would spring rivets on the steel ships, and the ice breaker, which was all wooded hull, would go ahead of you and break a path through the ice and we would follow them. So, the old wood ships were safer than the metal ships," recalls Nichols.

Cruising the Antarctic in a leaking ship and living on the polar ice cap might be enough adventure for most of us. But, not for Nichols.  It was on his trip to the Antarctic that he learned of another Naval experiment, the atom bomb.

"You wore heavy dark glasses all the time. You had to face away from the blast…such a brilliant exposure. It was very interesting."

And that's only the beginning. Nichols has even more stories to tell.

Remember to thank our veterans on Sunday.