TYLER, Texas (KLTV) - Marine veteran Weldon Bowen celebrated his 100th birthday on Saturday in Tyler with 4,000 cards written by people across the nation.

Bowen had hoped to receive 100 cards to mark the occasion, and hundreds more poured in thanking him for his service and wishing him a happy birthday.

"There's a lot of people out there that realize that there's a lot of veterans who've not gotten a fair shake, if you will, and I think they're looking at that as an opportunity to say, 'Hey, here's one veteran I can do something for,'" said Gail Bowen, daughter of Walden Bowen.