BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) – Don Barnes lives a pretty quiet lifestyle these days, decades deep into his retirement years. But there was nothing quiet about his 100th birthday celebration on Friday. In fact it got pretty loud at times. A convoy of motorcyclists gathered at Harley Davidson of Bakersfield at noon then rumbled en masse to Hoffmann Hospice’s palliative care home to cheer on the birthday boy. And what a party it was.  ‘Snow White’ finds safe spot in cinematic mediocrity Don Barnes is a World War II Navy veteran – a shipboard sonar man, petty officer second class, and a proud member of the greatest generation.  His memory isn’t what it used to be but he still remembers that day 80 years ago when he got the news: Japan had surrendered. “We won,” he said, choking up at the memory. “I sat down, right in the middle of the street, and I cried. I was so glad about that friggin’, goddamn war ending. I didn’t want any more.” Friends celebrated Barnes in speech and song. And the old baritone can still sing. He warbled his way admirably through two full verses of “Amazing Grace.” Ben Patten of Harley Davidson helped organize the tribute. “I work for some tremendous people that understand the sacrifices that these young men and women and the old guys have made,” he said, “so we can live the lives that we want to live every day.” Barnes joins a small club: Out of 8 billion human beings worldwide, just 722,000 are age 100 or older. The United States has 108,000 of those centenarians, according to the UN, which puts us second only to Japan. Never miss a story: Make KGET.com your homepage But the number of centenarians is growing as science and technology serve us ever better. By 2054, the number of U.S. centenarians will grow fourfold to 422,000. California has 8,000 residents aged 100 or older, which is the most of any state in the nation, and Kern County has a rough count of 200. The odds of any of them reaching 110 are one in 1,000. But that’s something to worry about – or not  — another day. This day was all about celebration. Don Barnes has a lot of friends, but Friday at his 100th birthday party he had a lot of friends. ...read more read less