I ended up in the Army Air Corps in the Pacific, operating out of Ayuka field in Hawaii.

I think the hardest thing in life is to forgive. Hate is self destructive. If you hate somebody, you're not hurting the person you hate, you're hurting yourself. It's a healing, actually, it's a real healing...forgiveness.

People say, on the raft, you must have hallucinated. Baloney. We were sharper after 47 days than the day we started because our minds were empty of all the war and contamination; we had clean minds to fill with good thoughts. Every day we'd exercise our minds.

I'd made it this far and refused to give up because all my life I had always finished the race.

Pain is that last quarter of a mile. You feel it, but when you’re through racing, your whole body just feels elated. So the pain is worth it.

Even at my age, I'm trying to improve. Never give up, no matter what. Even if you get last place - finish.

God knew my needs and took care accordingly.