William Lashua's Birthday

William Lashua's Birthday

Part of a series on Flash Mob Parties. [View Related Entries]

Updated Sep 01, 2021 at 10:54AM EDT by Don.

Added Sep 03, 2010 at 04:13PM EDT by Brad.

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Overview

William Lashua's Birthday was a flash mob campaign orchestrated in early September 2010 by 4chan users to celebrate the 90th birthday of William Lashua, a World War II veteran from Ashburnham, MA.

Background

On September 1st, 2010, an Anonymous member, presumably from the same town, took a picture of an event flyer announcing the 90th birthday of William Lashua and posted it on 4chan's /b/ board. The birthday celebration is scheduled to be held at the Ashburnham American Legion from 1 pm to 4 pm on September 4th, 2010.


Wanted People for Birthday Party Date: Sept 4, 2010 Time: 1pm to 4pm Ashburnham American Legion

Developments

Calling for other Anons to make Mr. Lashua the happiest man on his birthday, /b/ thread instantly caught on with other users and spread across other news aggregate hubsites and social networks like Gawker, Buzzfeed, Reddit and
Facebook Page.


File 1283339815 gf-867 KB, 2048x1536, bawww.gif) □ Anonymous 09/01/10(Wed)21:10:15 No.268768XXX Last one 404'd Everyone send him a card if not more! He is turning 90 and is a WWill vet. He deserves everything William J Lashua c/o Ashbumham American Legion Wanted reople for birthday Party 132 Williams, RD Ashburnham, MA 01430 Anonymous 09/01/10(Wed)21:10:47 No 268768xxx Someone post phone number Anonymous 09/01/10(Wed)21:14:16 No.268769x0x bump >> □ 09/01/10(Wed)21:14:51 No.268769XXX This is so full of win □ Anonymous 09/01/10(Wed)21:15:37 No.268769XXX I f------ hope I age to be this man >>迥Anonymous 09/01/10(Wed)21: 17.39 No 268770XX oldfag herecSSs I hope you guys mean well.please respect our vets □ Anonymous 09/01/10(Wed)21 17 58 No 268770XX Awesome! Everybody send him nice cards it will be pretty cool, not to mention 4chan could use some pure honest good publicity

On the same day, details of Mr. Lashua's birthday event was soon revealed:

William J Lashua
Ashburnham American Legion
132 Williams RD
Ashburnham, MA 01430

William's Grandson Responds

On September 2nd, Reddit user "HOLYSHITthrowaway" posted a thread titled I am William Lashua's Grandson. Please Read and the authenticity of his claim was verified by another staff member. In the post, he thanked everyone's support and generosity, but asked others to refrain from actually attending the event.

Kind folks of reddit, My family and I appreciate the outpouring of love and generosity. There has been a large misunderstanding. The poster which I'm told was found at the Gardner Stop & Shop was more a local notice for people that know him. It was in no way to indicate that he is alone. He has 7 children, many grandchildren, and even great grandchildren. In his younger years he was a foster parent to dozens of foster children. He is well liked in the community, and will be fully supported on his 90th birthday. I ask that if you don't know him, to not attend the party, as it is for his friends and family. The venue for the party is a very small hall, and will be full to capacity with people he knows and loves.

By all means, send cards and well wishes, but please refrain from sending gifts/strippers/cakes/candies/etc. and instead please make a donation in his name to a local vetrans charity.

Thank you again for all the love and well wishes, we certainly never expected this. You are awesome reddit, now please help me spread the word to other outlets and make sure this is a smaller, enjoyable party for him.

The Party

On September 4th, 2010, Redditor RubberDucky451 submitted an Imgur gallery of photographs taken at Lashua's birthday party (shown below). Prior to being archived, the post received mroe than 370 points (80% upvoted) on /r/reddit.com.[3]


Happy

The following day, the AnonymousHasASoul YouTube channel uploaded a slideshow of photographs from the birthday party, which gathered more than 390,000 views and 700 comments within seven years (shown below.



Death

On May 31st, 2013, a poster claiming to be William Lashua's grandson/daughter posted a thread [1] to the 4chan board /q/ reporting his passing a week prior on May 23rd. The claim was verified with an Obituaries page on a local newspaper website, The Gardner News [2].

File: 1369981207080 ipg-(66 KB, 630x360, image.jpg) William Lashua Passes Away Anonymous (ID: VqJlpYp8) 05/31/13(Fri)02:20 No.619736 Replies: 22619761 22619763 22619802 22619847 32619849 22619851 22619868 2>619886 2619932 >620030 620409 Almost three years ago 4Chan made my grandfather, William Lashua a very famous man. He was turning 90 and is a proud WWIl veteran. Because of 4Chan my grandfather and family was overwhelmed by the kindness and respect that we got in honor of my grandfathers birthday. It is with a very heavy heart that I tell you that my grandfather passed away last week. He was surrounded by our family as he passed in his home. You can find his obituary in the Gardner News from Gadner, MA. My family and I continue to thank you for helping my grandfathers 90th one for the books. May he rest in peace. Anonymous (D: VldjLiPD) 05/31/13(Fri)02:49 No.619749 Replies: 22619928 File: 1369982988424.jpg-(48 KB, 500x288, 1354563005874.jpg) http://obit.fletcherfuneral.com/obi tdisplay.html?id-1211922&listing Current Ho f---. tis cant be real Anonymous (ID: 10mumwPv) 05/31/13(Fri)02:52 No.619751 He made me not hate 4chan for a few brief weeks RIP

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