Although WWII veteran Jerry Oxman left military service in 1948, the service never really left him.
Oxman was particularly fascinated by WWII aircrafts, and he began purchasing engines and other items on bid from aircraft companies like Boeing. By 1961 Oxman had enough pieces to open Oxman Surplus in a small storefront outside of Los Angeles.
Business has gone extremely well over the years, and even at age 96 Oxman shows no signs of slowing down. In June 2011 -- in honor of his birthday -- he expanded the store and opened a museum full of rare artifacts. One of the artifacts includes a maple leaf that was dropped in Hiroshima by American soldiers before the atomic bomb and printed with a warning of the impending catastrophe.
Sons Murray, age 61, and Jason, age 50, have made Oxman Surplus Store and Museum a family business, but that hasn't lightened Jerry's load one bit.
"I'm so accustomed to going to work every day," he explained. "I love it, and I don't want to stay at home and rot away."
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