Jack Dunnigan has loved playing cards for as long as he remembers. And at 98, Jack has a great memory and many memories. Few things surprise him.

But his friends at the Buttonwoods Community Center were one up on him Thursday when they celebrated his 98th birthday in song and with a cake. Jack showed up with his daughter Maureen who had driven him from his assisted living facility in East Greenwich for his weekly dose of Hi Low Jack.

Jack paid his two bucks at the door and got his table assignment before realizing that this was not an ordinary Thursday afternoon of card playing. He found he was the center of attention. He was guided over to a gigantic cake where fellow card players joined in a chorus of “Happy Birthday,” handed him cards, and watched as he cut the first piece.

Jack is not only lucky in cards, but in life.

During World War II, he served in the Army Air Force as a bombardier on a B-17. His first mission over Germany early in the war was the most harrowing.

“We were out of ammo,” he says, “and we had lost a ball turret.” The plane was still over mainland Europe and taking fire from multiple directions. The side gunners had been hit and the radioman had lost a leg. It was questionable whether the plane could make it back across the English Channel. The crew conferred. Would they put the plane down where they were, which surely meant their capture by the Germans, assuming they didn’t die in a crash landing, or attempt to get back to England? The decision was made to head back even though they wondered if there was the fuel to make it.

“We just cleared the cliffs of Dover,” Jack said. After that they plowed the bomber into a field before hitting a bunch of trees. Miraculously, none of the crew suffered additional injuries. After that first flight, Jack said, he didn’t want any part of flying another bombing mission. He said he was given 10 days of rest and relaxation, a lot of it spent in pubs. He figured his days of flying were over, but then in the early morning hours a man they had nicknamed “graveyard Dan” roused him. He was back in the B-17. He flew 31 missions during the war and was in the lead plane of a wing of bombers on D-Day.

Jack remains in awe of what the Allies were able to accomplish, as the Germans were initially better equipped and trained. Finding parts to keep our planes in the air, even such basics as wheels, was difficult and required ingenuity.

“But we pulled it out,” he said.

After the war, Jack went to work for Lincoln Finance, a consumer finance company. Following the death of the company’s president and owner, Jack’s responsibilities increased. He soon ended up running the company and then owning it.

Meanwhile, he married Sarah and started raising a family. They had been married for 71 years when Sarah passed away in May 2012.

Jack said he felt lost and didn’t know what to do.

“I told my kids to take control,” he said. They wanted to see him active and around people. They knew of his love for cards, although Jack chafes at Maureen’s characterization of being a “card shark.” Maureen learned of the Thursday High Low Jack play and introduced him to the group about a year ago.

“It’s like bridge, but it’s easier,” Lorraine McDonald, who is a regular player, says of the game. McDonald said games can be very competitive, but that Jack is a real gentleman player.

“We have fights but when we’re done we’re all friends,” says Mary Boulanger. For her, the card playing is all about getting out, socializing, and being with friends.

Jack sees it that way, too. Having so many new friends is a bonus to a good hand of cards. In fact, it’s the best part of the game.