Decades ago, a WWII veteran signed a contract to conduct a band on his 100th birthday. Last month, he fulfilled it.

Wheaton, Illinois — It's been more than 80 years since retired U.S. Air Force Col. Arnald Gabriel of Arlington, Virginia, took an enlistment oath to defend his country during World War II, where he saw combat.

The 100-year-old Gabriel, who also served in the U.S. Army, was once the conductor of the U.S. Air Force Band, and under his leadership, it became internationally renowned.

In 1992, one of his biggest fans, Bruce Moss — conductor of the Wheaton Municipal Band in Wheaton, Illinois — invited Gabriel to be a guest conductor.

"He did not know me," Moss told CBS News. "He did not know the band. But he fell in love with the band over time, and kept coming back."

On a subsequent visit in 2000 or 2001, Moss said he told Gabriel, who was in his 70s at the time, "You look so good, I bet