Colorado woman and WWII veteran shares stories from a century of life, aviation and adventure

Colorado resident Vicki Herrell is 104 years old, and she still knows how to laugh at the realities that come with getting older.

"I need assistance to walk. Then I think, what do you expect for 104?" Herrell said with a laugh. She added that it's important to keep moving: "I try to be active; I walk. Exercise is very important."

And after more than a century of life, Herrell has plenty of stories to tell.

"I've always had an intense interest in aviation," Herrell said.

That passion even led to a memorable encounter with legendary aviator Amelia Earhart. Herrell says she met Earhart when she visited her hometown and the two spent a few minutes together backstage.

Her story begins during a time when the world was at war. At 17, Herrell moved to Ohio, where she worked as a "Rosie the Riveter" during World War II. The term refers to the women who worked to produce tanks, ships, planes and other materiel during World War II. Herrell worked as a riveter making fuselages for P-61 aircraft in Akron.

Herrell soon enlisted in the Navy as a WAVE, Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service, and put her interest in aviation to work.

"I was a flight attendant in Naval Transport Service," Herrell said. "So I was a flight attendant [transporting] troops coast to coast."

After leaving the Navy, Herrell continued her career in the skies, eventually becoming a flight attendant for Trans World Airlines.

She spent years traveling and earned a half-million-mile pin along the way.

Her career also came with plenty of attention from admirers.

"I was engaged to three men at the same time: New York, Kansas City and Phoenix," Herrell said. "I didn't marry any of them. I returned all the rings."

Herrell says she loved her career so much that marriage simply wasn't a priority at the time.

"I enjoyed my career so much as a flight attendant, I had no desire to get married," she said. "And I think that attracts men more."

Eventually, though, Herrell did marry, bringing her time at TWA to an end and beginning a new chapter centered around family. Through all of it, she says she doesn't take her life for granted.

That includes some pretty memorable milestones, like her 100th birthday, when she had her picture taken with former NFL quarterback Peyton Manning.

Now, at 104, Herrell says the key to a long life is to stay curious.

"Just have a great interest in everything that's going on," she said.