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Richard Overton was the oldest veteran of the American wars. He died Thursday.
Darren Abate / AP
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Darren Abate / AP
Richard Overton was the oldest veteran of the American wars. He died on Thursday.
Darren Abate / AP
The United States lost its veteran of the Second World War. Richard Overton, who fought overseas in a separate unit, died Thursday at the age of 11.
He was hospitalized recently as a result of pneumonia and took his last antibiotic on December 21 – "a real soldier who was fighting this infection with everything he's got," said his cousin , Volma Overton, on Facebook.
Richard Overton was born in 1906, near Austin, Texas. He enlisted in the army in 1940, before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. He joined the 1887th Aviation Engineer Battalion, a unit composed of black soldiers, and served in Pearl Harbor, Okinawa and Iwo Jima.
"It was difficult," he told NPR's morning edition in 2015. "I've never done it." Uncle Sam summoned me And I went there and I had to do it. "
In an interview with the Austin Statesman, he described the cleansing of the battlefield corps and the landing under fire more times than he could remember it. "We entered the holes and we received bullets over our heads," he said.
Overton told NPR that he was happy to return home unharmed. "I'm glad I did not become like the others," he said. "Some had their arms, some had their legs, some lost their bodies, some lost their souls."
After the end of the war, he lived in a house that he had built in Austin. From his porch he was known to chat with neighbors. A man on his door said, "Make friends since 1906," said the politician.
Over the decades, he has been commended for his services.
In 2013, former President Barack Obama invited him to Washington, DC for Veterans Day, where Overton received a standing ovation at the Memorial Amphitheater of the Arlington National Cemetery.
"Everyone, I want you to know something about Mr. Overton here," Obama said. "He was there in Pearl Harbor when battleships were still smoking, he was there in Okinawa, he was there at Iwo Jima, where he said," I only came out of there by the grace of God. "
The President pointed out that Overton had returned to the United States, marked by racial inequality" and that his service on the battlefield was not always matched with the respect that He deserved at home ".
Black veterans are often denied employment or housing. Obama said Mr. Overton worked with dignity in furniture stores and in the capital. "And every Sunday, he jumps into his 1971 Ford truck and drives one of the nice ladies from his neighborhood to the church," Obama said.
In 2014, Overton was honored by the US Coast Guard of the Atlantic. "He fought and risked his life in the service of his country despite the fact that he had not yet been treated on an equal footing at home," said Capt. . James O Keefe.
As Overton grew older, he faced different challenges. His family needed help to pay for home health care and fundraise via a GoFundMe page
Last summer, family members said: "The money and l & # 39; Overton's identity had been stolen after someone had accessed his social security number and his bank account. His bank has reinstated looted funds, according to Dallas News.
On the day of his 111th birthday, part of his street was renamed for him, KUT reported. He was also honored at a basketball match between the San Antonio Spurs and Memphis Grizzlies
. He spent his long life with aspirin, a stress-free life and court. He was also known for eating ice cream, drinking whiskey and smoking cigars.
Mourners stopped Thursday night at his home in Austin with flowers and candles, according to local media reports.
The US Army prayed the Overton family, saying on Twitter : "Today, we are not only crying a hero, but a legend."
Texas Governor Greg Abbott called him an icon that "made us proud to be Texans and proud to be Americans."
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