William Lashua birthday invitation 4chanA couple weeks back, a member of the Illuminati 4chan community, came across an invitation for the 90th birthday party of WWII vet William Lashua. What made it interesting was that, rather than simply inviting people to a party, it appeared to be requesting celebrants.

Soon, members of Reddit caught on and thus began Operation Birthday Boy, an effort to make William's 90th birthday the best he'd ever had.

Word eventually spread to William's grandson, who assured the Interwebs that his Grandfather had lived an enormously full life and would have plenty of people in attendance already. But he encouraged folks to send birthday greetings and cards.

Well, the big day came, and William received an outpouring of well wishes from around the world -- in addition to having to host a few unexpected attendees from the online community.

Keep reading for a montage of party highlights set to a slow, meandering piano. Then check out more great pics of the party from our friends at Urlesque. They prove that the Internet can indeed be used for good (occasionally).