Meet 100-year-old retired NYPD detective Howard Bach who met infamous bank robber Willie Sutton during his three decades on the force

He’s the NYPD’s oldest retired gumshoe, still plays the harmonica and remembers the day he met famed bank robber Willie Sutton — who happened to be half-naked at the time.Howard Bach, who turned 100 in July, joined the police force in 1948 after serving as a US sailor for four years on the USS Mississippi in the Pacific during World War II.He retired from the NYPD in 1978 after 30 years on the job. “It was quite an experience,” Bach told The Post of his NYPD career.“He fought for this nation in war and then Howard Bach served this city, proudly, as an NYPD detective,” Detectives Endowment Association President Scott Munro said.

“We salute him on his hundredth birthday and wish this crime fighter many more healthy years.”The DEA honored Bach for his life of service last month at the Northport Veterans Affairs Medical Center on Long Island.Bach was born on the Fourth of July in 1924.

Prohibition was still in effect, and the Big Apple saw its first Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.He grew up in a house on stilts in a place called Springfield Dock, Queens, present-day John F.Kennedy International Airport.

A strong swimmer by the time he was 8, Bach once saved another child from drowning.When the kid’s grateful dad gave him a rowboat as a gift, he wrote “PD” on the boat — for the Police Department he dreamed of joining one day.

“He always wanted to be a police officer,” bragged his proud daughter, Karen Clinton, 73. He and his wife Dolores had three sons and three daughters.Two of their sons served in the U.S.

Army in Vietnam, returned home but have since died.Bach’s third son, a retired federal agent, and his daughters look out for their dad, Clinton said.Bach was repeatedly recognized by the department for his police work in letters that his daughter saved.In one, dated Dec.

13, 1948, Bach was praised for nabbing an armed robber who had assaulted and held up a Brooklyn hardware store owner.Bach heard the man’s calls for help,...