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Last post 5 years ago by KingoftheCove. 14 replies replies.
Nation’s oldest military veteran dead at 112
Burner02 Offline
#1 Posted:
Joined: 12-21-2010
Posts: 12,861
America’s oldest veteran, Richard Overton, who served in the Army during World War II and credited God, whiskey and cigars for his remarkable longevity, died Thursday in Texas at the age of 112, reports say.

He had been hospitalized for the last week with pneumonia, his family said.

Shirley Overton, whose husband was Richard’s cousin, said the vet died Thursday evening at a rehab facility in Austin.

Overton, who was also thought to be the oldest living American, was born in 1906 in Bastrop County, just outside Austin, Texas.

Overton was in his 30s when he volunteered for the Army, and was at Pearl Harbor just after the Japanese surprise attack in 1941.

The WWII veteran served in the all-black 1887th Engineer Aviation Battalion from 1942 to 1945, a period that included stops in Angaur, Palau; Peleliu, Micronesia; and Iwo Jima, Japan.

On Veterans Day in 2013, as FOX 7 Austin reported, former President Barack Obama honored Overton in front of thousands in the nation’s capital. “His service on the battlefield was not always matched by the respect that he deserved at home. But this veteran held his head high,” Obama said.

Overton, in later years, could often be seen on the porch of his home, which he built in East Austin in 1945.

“He’s like a gift to Austin that keeps giving,” Overton’s friend Steve Wiener said last summer. “He’s a crackerjack. When people sense his humor and playfulness, it just lightens everyone’s step.”

His favorite pastime was smoking his 12 daily cigars on his front porch, which friends dubbed his “stage.”

He had lived on his street since returning from war. That street was named in his honor for his 111th birthday last year.

He was grateful to be the nation’s oldest veteran. And he offered this wry advice for living a long life: "Keep living, don’t die.”


RIP
Numismaniac Offline
#2 Posted:
Joined: 01-13-2012
Posts: 12,222
RIP, there definitely won't be another one like him!!
gummy jones Offline
#3 Posted:
Joined: 07-06-2015
Posts: 7,969
Enjoy eternity brother

I would have loved to meet this guy

Maybe on the other side
Speyside Offline
#4 Posted:
Joined: 03-16-2015
Posts: 13,106
RIP Mr. Overton.
Whistlebritches Offline
#5 Posted:
Joined: 04-23-2006
Posts: 22,127
RIP Sir
corey sellers Offline
#6 Posted:
Joined: 08-21-2011
Posts: 10,338
RIP MR. Overton will smoke one in his honor tonight
Gene363 Offline
#7 Posted:
Joined: 01-24-2003
Posts: 30,660
RIP
Phil222 Offline
#8 Posted:
Joined: 10-01-2017
Posts: 1,911
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BXyfCGDnuWs
Legend. May he rest in peace.
delta1 Offline
#9 Posted:
Joined: 11-23-2011
Posts: 28,753
dang... he almost outlived Sears...
frankj1 Offline
#10 Posted:
Joined: 02-08-2007
Posts: 44,211
delta1 wrote:
dang... he almost outlived Sears...

and he woulda if he hadn't gone for the sucker deal on siding and cabinet refacing from them!
DrafterX Offline
#11 Posted:
Joined: 10-18-2005
Posts: 98,506
I heard Jade saw his boobs once... Mellow
tonygraz Offline
#12 Posted:
Joined: 08-11-2008
Posts: 20,173
12 Cigars and Whiskey every day. I wonder what he smoked and what he drank.
CruzJ Offline
#13 Posted:
Joined: 04-17-2014
Posts: 222
One of my few regrets was not taking the time to sit down and chat with him while living and working in Austin.

Rest easy, sir. Until Fiddler's Green.
KingoftheCove Offline
#14 Posted:
Joined: 10-08-2011
Posts: 7,600
tonygraz wrote:
12 Cigars and Whiskey every day. I wonder what he smoked and what he drank.

CAO Brazilas??
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