POCATELLO — Surrounded by four generations of his family, a local veteran and longtime Union Pacific railman recently reflected on his military service and decades of engineering expertise ahead of his 106th birthday later this month.

Jack McDermott is a third-generation engineer, a decades-long member of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and a World War II veteran who served in the European theater.

McDermott attended what is now Idaho State University in the late 1930s. He was a member of the forestry club and played basketball while attending what was then the southern branch of the University of Idaho.

McDermott would be the first to say that he’s no hero, but his legacy in the Gate City as a Union Pacific chairman with more than four decades of experience and his service under the red, white and blue will cement him in the annals of history and as a leader in the community.

It was just after the Great Depression, under the guidance and help of his father, that McDermott began his career with the Union Pacific Railroad. It wouldn’t be long before McDermott and five other local servicemen were drafted and sent overseas during the advent of World War II.

McDermott continued his service as an engineer, transporting supplies, personnel and even German prisoners of war as a train operator.

“When we left for France, it was in the middle of winter,” McDermott said. “The (U.S.) soldiers were in one of these camps outside of Le Havre. They were all named after cigarettes, like Chesterfield, Camel, Lucky Strike, all those. We got there in the middle of night, and they said, ‘Find a tent.’ So we did. The next morning, we got up, it had snowed a little bit, and I went outside of the tent and the first sergeant, he was going up the toilet outside his stand, and I said to him, ‘You’re not very nice. We’re gonna have to have hundreds of frozen (soldiers) that are going to have to live in this and smell like hell.’ In 10 minutes, I was on detail.”

The sergeant sent McDermott into Le Havre to collect coal and bring it back to camp. While there, McDermott had an idea to raise morale and look out for his fellow soldiers.

“Next to the coal, there were barrels full of wine,” McDermott said. “There were some jerry cans, they’re those five-gallon types. I went and emptied a couple of them and filled them up with wine. We took that back to camp with us, and the boys liked that.”

During the war, McDermott traveled from England to France and from France to Belgium and Germany. At some point during the war, McDermott was transporting German prisoners of war when they stopped in the middle of their journey to pour water on the locomotive’s engine.

“While I was doing this, inside one of these railroad cars, what we call stock cars, a voice from (back) there in perfect English said, ‘Sergeant, the lieutenant wants to talk to you,’” McDermott said. “So I asked him what he wanted. He wanted to know if I had any cigarettes.”

Like something out of a war movie, McDermott engaged with the prisoners of war, sharply witted and quick in his reply.

“I told him, ‘Yeah, I’ve got cigarettes,’” McDermott said. “’Sergeant, the lieutenant wants to know if he could have a cigarette.’ I told him, ‘No.’”

McDermott finished his service in the military, with all six of the original Pocatello draftees able to return to their families at the end of the war.

For 42 years, McDermott worked as an integral part of the Union Pacific Railroad, serving for seven years as union chairman of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers before his retirement in 1982.

McDermott’s daughter, Betty Warner, believes her father may be among the very few, if any, past general chairmen who have lived to 106 and that McDermott may be the first in the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers history, dating back to Abraham Lincoln.

McDermott says it was bowls of oatmeal and the love of his three girls — Kathy Eaton, Debbie Milsted and Betty Warner — along with his grandchildren, great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren that have kept him fighting all these years.

A private celebration for McDermott’s 106th birthday will be held Jan. 18 with members of his family, friends and loved ones.

“They’re not many of us left, so be kind,” McDermott said.

When asked what wisdom or lessons he’s learned in his many years of life, McDermott’s answer was simple.

“Don’t give up,” McDermott said. “Don’t give up, just yet. Things change every hour.”