Oldest Veteran turned 109! Check him out..

I'm just in awe. I looove WWII Vets. :smt054 These guys are the true Rock Stars to me. I'd kiss this man's hand if l got the honor to hold it.

'Mighty fine at 109': America's oldest vet marks birthday with cigar




May 11, 2015

Richard Overton feels a "little stiff" from time to time and he's cut out the whiskey but other than that, he feels pretty good.

Not bad for America's oldest living military veteran, who turned 109 on Monday.

“I get around pretty good, just get a little stiff. I'm doing all right, I guess," Overton told FoxNews.com, as he waited at his Austin, Texas, home for a car to pick him up to take him to meet Gov. Greg Abbott."Gonna go see the governor," he added. "He wants to talk to me."

The World War II veteran's friends and family tossed a birthday party for him last week, with as many as 100 people in attendance. Neighbor Helen Elliot organized and hosted the party, which was sponsored by Mighty Fine Burgers, Fries and Shakes. The theme for the day was "Mighty Fine at 109."

“He’s just the coolest neighbor on the planet,” Elliot told Fox affiliate KTBC. “He’s so much fun and always has the best stories.”

Overton served from 1942-45, with stops in Hawaii, Guam, Palau and Iwo Jima while attaining the rank of sergeant. He saw many of his Army buddies die serving their country, and the rest have passed away since the war ended.

He said he misses the soldiers who served with him in the all-black 1887th Engineer Aviation Battalion, and would love to reminisce with them.

“I’m the only one that can tell the tale now," he said. "All the other boys are gone.”




Born on May, 11, 1906, in Texas’ Bastrop County, Overton worked in the furniture business and then with the Texas Treasury Department in Austin after he got out of the Army.

He married twice but never fathered any children and still attends church every Sunday.



“I got good health and I don’t take any medicine,” he told FoxNews.com in 2013. “I also stay busy around the yards, I trim trees, help with the horses. The driveways get dirty, so I clean them. I do something to keep myself moving. I don’t watch television.”

Overton lights up a dozen cigars a day, but he's stopped taking a shot of whiskey in his morning coffee.

"Don't drink that whiskey any more," he said.

*He met President Obama in 2013, at an event at Arlington National Cemetery, where the president singled out Overton during his remarks.

“When the war ended, Richard headed home to Texas to a nation bitterly divided by race,” Obama said at the time. “And his service on the battlefield was not always matched by the respect that he deserved at home. But this veteran held his head high. He carried on and lived his life with honor and dignity."

 

Another unsung hero of color from the 'greatest generation'

 

Thanks for posting it Bliss!

 

Every now and then she acts like she knows what's right

 

:smt023 :smt023

:l know you ain't right in the head.

 

Seriously tho....blacks played a role in ww2 and so did WOMEN

why is the icon of the Greatest Generation always some white guy, who only got to storm the beaches or parachute into France (you know...hero shit) because he won the race and sex lottery?

 

l hear ya, mate.
Probably due to the sheer number of white guys, is my guess. They were pretty much the face of WWII.
This guy is out living them all, though..and he is the face of Vets now. God Bless him.

*Can you believe he smokes cigars all day..and no meds? Clone this fella, already.

 

A no med lifestyle? People a small fraction of his age wish for that

 

This is very inspiring as a fellow veteran.

 

Great OP, rep added.

 

Like I said..once in a while bliss makes you love her

 

They forgot about goodlove

 

:freehug: So appreciate your call to service.

Thanks, AT!

 

Lol..There's that Brotherly love.

Lmao...you know if he spots this he's gonna play the dozens with ya.

 

Ms. Bliss thank you for this post. I too greatly admire the greatest generation of men and women. Especially my father who fought in Europe during WWII. He is gone now. But to you Ms. Bliss, I honor you for this post. This post says much about you. I admire you for your open mind, your intelligence and virtue. Again, thank you.

 

That's what blew my mind too. I thought he was being boastful and exaggerating a bit, but to coast past 90 years old you're genetics have to be on point.

I noticed how lean and trim he is which makes his body more efficient in performing its functions.

The man has 100+ year old joints, heart, digestive tract, brain and lungs.
And the man is chilling.
I've got family just hitting their 70s who can't remember how to drive to the grocery store 3 miles away.:smt012

WHen you get that old each and every day literally could be your last, I wonder if he thinks about that??

 

Crazy proof that the body can live a long time. Now he might have some joints replaces, but still.

And you're right about the lean...there really are no old, old obese people.

Of course, too though, the older you get, the less you eat due to lack of appetite, tooth loss, digestive issues, waning taste buds, boredom with food, etc...

 

Boredom with food? Never!