TRAVIS AFB, Calif. -- At Travis Air Force Base near San Francisco Thursday, President Bush took time to fulfill the lifelong dream of a terminally ill war hero.

It was a moment a lifetime in the making.

79-year-old Trinie Cano-Bowling got to meet her idol, President George W. Bush.

“It's fabulous. I love that guy," Cano-Bowling said Friday at her home in Bay Terraces.

"He told my daughter, `so this is the little lady that has people talking about her,’" she recalled.

People talk because in her life, Trinie Cano-Bowling has done so much, beginning with her time as a guerilla in the Philippines during World War II.

“She helped to spy on the Japanese. She would come back and tell them where they were and what they were doing," said her daughter, Marchia Mervich.

After emigrating to America, it was her commitment to the Republican party for over 30 years.

"She loves America. She loves the Republican Party and she wants to do all she can," said another daughter, Charlyn Kelley.

Sometimes, that meant going above and beyond, while campaigning for the party.

"I knock door to door and I wait for this big dog to bite me, but I really don’t care because I need that vote," Cano-Bowling said.

Stricken with a rare tumor, she admits she only has a limited time left.

"I've been looking forward to this for quite a long time. Now, it's about time," Cano-Bowling said.

"I think that was the culmination for her of all the years. That someone of his stature would recognize her for all she’s done for 30 years," said her daughter.