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You are here: Home / Politics / America / Happy Birthday To Richard Overton: The Oldest Living American And The Oldest Living World War II Veteran!

Happy Birthday To Richard Overton: The Oldest Living American And The Oldest Living World War II Veteran!

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From The Austin American Statesman:

He’s met celebrities, presidents and comedians. He’s experienced war and peace. He’s accumulated countless accolades.

But for America’s oldest living World War II veteran Richard Overton, there’s nothing better than hanging out on his front porch, smoking cigars and greeting passers-by who treat him, rightly so, like the neighborhood king.

“I love to have a birthday,” Overton said Thursday from his porch. “That’s another day. I hope I live another five years.”

Overton is believed to be the oldest living American and the third-oldest person in the world.The super-centenarian has no plans of slowing down. Since his last birthday, he’s kept busy. “I’m enjoying myself,” he said.

Overton, who was born on May 11, 1906, in Bastrop County, served in the Pacific Theater from 1942 to 1945 as part of the all-black 1887th Engineer Aviation Battalion.

In 2016, his family created an online fundraising page to hire round-the-clock home health care to keep him living independently. The latest fundraising goal is $400,000.

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

When asked about the secret to a long life, Overton glanced at his cigar and said, “Don’t give up. Keep on living.”

He once said his favorite moment was seeing a black president elected. In his first visit to Washington in 2013, Overton was honored in front of a crowd of 4,000 people by President Barack Obama at a Veterans Day ceremony at the Arlington National Cemetery.

Happy Birthday!

Open thread.

Reader Interactions

48Comments

  5. 5.

    Yarrow

    That is awesome! Love that photo of his enjoying his cigar. He’s certainly earned it.

  7. 7.

    PJ

    @Mike J: You win the thread.

    But, seriously, he has good advice for all of us, particularly in these times: “Don’t give up. Keep on living.”

  8. 8.

    Duane

    Here’s to Richard Overton. May he enjoy many more birthday cigars. Is he the guy that invented the Overton window?

  11. 11.

    Villago Delenda Est

    Of course, Donald has nothing to say to him. Too busy planning on more egregious violations of the Constitution.

  16. 16.

    West of the Rockies

    The fellow looks as sharp as a tack! Carry on, soldier! Smoke ’em if you got ’em.

  17. 17.

    terben

    Is there no white person out there who will call the cops on this man? Smoking cigars (probably Cuban) while black!

  18. 18.

    PJ

    Hi Adam,

    I read your post downstairs about finding a publisher for a book on the Trump Doctrine. I can’t figure out how to find your email, but if you send me an email, I can put you in touch with a literary agent I know who focuses on non-fiction and who might be interested in your book. It would help if you have a short synopsis I could forward, and a CV with your publications.

  22. 22.

    West of the Rockies

    I needed some inspiration tonight so watched the SpaceX launch and then Obama singing “Amazing Grace.”

    FSM, I miss that man. Cue “Come Back, Barack”…

  23. 23.

    Ruckus

    I like the 4 stars on his collar. Probably better earned than some of the people that get paid to wear them. Never let the bastards win. The secret to a long or at least interesting life.

  27. 27.

    NotMax

    Hot diggity dog. Lobster tail in 3 minutes in Instant Pot! Yellow saffron rice with peas as a side (also from Instant Pot).

    @Major Major Major Major

    Sheltie probably felt same way about you if he/she ever happened to see you emerge from the shower..

    ;)

  29. 29.

    Ruckus

    @Major Major Major Major:
    Yeah that might get your attention.
    The shop that my dad bought had a shop dog, more of a junk yard dog really. A GS by the very earned name of Poison. Dad was 5′ 8-9″ tall and Poison would stand on dad’s shoulders and his head would sit on top of dad’s. First time I saw that got my attention. He was a big boy. Also as racist as it comes. I didn’t know that dogs could be racists. The things you learn in this life.

  30. 30.

    Mnemosyne

    The oldest person I have met personally is Ruthie Tompson, who will be turning 108 in July. She is still sharp as a tack and spends a lot of her time showing the other residents at the Motion Picture Home how to use their iPads and iPhones.

  32. 32.

    NotMax

    @a href=”https://balloon-juice.com/2018/05/12/happy-birthday-to-richard-overton-the-oldest-living-american-and-the-oldest-living-world-war-ii-veteran/#comment-6871018″>Ruckus

    Trivia: The German Shepherd has been around only a few years longer than Mr. Overton, the breed first having been introduced in1899.

  33. 33.

    NotMax

    Let’s fix that mess.

    @Ruckus

    Trivia: The German Shepherd has been around only a few years longer than Mr. Overton, the breed first having been introduced in 1899.

  35. 35.

    NotMax

    @Major Major Major Major

    Friend, who had a long and successful history with dogs, got hold of a lemon German Shepherd once. Dog was ageist. If it saw a child, any child, it would try to attack.

  37. 37.

    Ruckus

    Also Richard Overton looks like a twin to a man I see at the VA all the time. I’d imagine this man is not as old. I once saw a man on the parking lot bus at the Columbus airport with a Tuskegee airman cap on. I was too in awe to ask any questions but judging his age gave me, old enough to have been in WWII.
    When I go to the main VA hospital in LA and look at all the black vets and know how they got treated when they were younger, it makes my blood boil. Especially when someone like drumpf got off for bullshit and money. John McCain may be a conservative ass but he did fight and paid a rather drastic price for that. Even his lack of talent for his job is immaterial, he stood up when the bell sounded. BTW that idea that he was derelict on the USS Forestall is wrong. At the time there was a rate called Damage Control and they were supposed to do the fire fighting. And a lot change was instituted after the 67 fire on the Forestall, for example everyone went to fire fighting school. I had to put out petroleum fires in boot camp and was on a damage control party for almost a year after getting assigned to a ship as an entry man. That’s the guy with the fire axe that goes in a compartment first, with the hose men behind you to direct them and do what is necessary to gain control. Or to man a hose for gunnery practice with the 5 inch guns, in case of a missfire. The barrel had to be cooled otherwise it would explode from the heat and pressure behind the shell. Not as dangerous as working on an aircraft carrier flight deck or playing hide and seek in the jungle but still enough to get ones attention.

  38. 38.

    NotMax

    Another sign of aging. Just had to use a pair of pliers to loosen the cork on the bottle of prosecco enough that I could then remove it by hand.

  39. 39.

    Ruckus

    @NotMax:
    How the fuck old do you think I am? I mean I am older than dirt but still.
    My grandfather was 16 when Mr Overton was born. My father was born 11 yrs after Mr. Overton, my mom a year after that. Mr Overton has decades on me.
    @Major Major Major Major:
    Oh I’m pretty sure he was trained that way by the previous owner. A real swell guy. And if you believe that, I own some bridges I’ll let go cheap.

  41. 41.

    NotMax

    @Ruckus

    Don’t see anywhere I even slightly suggested or hinted at your age. Was solely offering a piece of doggie trivia for entertainment purposes.

  42. 42.

    Ruckus

    @Mnemosyne:
    My oldest was a man I met through work in professional sports. He was 95 when I first met him, he looked/acted younger than I do now. And I’m not all that close to 95. Yet. I would see him every year after that. At 101 he looked and acted exactly the same. At 102 he looked rather tired. At 103 he looked like he had moments left. At 104 he looked like he was being propped up and kept alive by machine, he wasn’t. He lasted only a couple more months. So 108 and going great guns is amazing to me. 112 boggles the mind. I hope he lives long enough to see his country returned to it’s rightful owners, everyone.

  43. 43.

    Ruckus

    @NotMax:
    That’s what I figured but one can’t let fighting words go unnoticed. Even if there really isn’t a fight intended or there. I just figured you might get a laugh out of my response. Especially as we are talking about some one with decades of living more than me. Hell I’d like to be retired, but I’m not. Still working machines and making parts. Working on a stroke checking fixture for a hydraulic actuator for the Airbus 320/330 for the next while. Then get to see if I can still weld while we build some parts that I have no idea what they are for. I did this last time we build a bunch of the same parts, welding all day long for days. Ahhh the fun of being an old working stiff.

  45. 45.

    J R in WV

    @Ruckus:

    My uncle , gone these many years now, Uncle Lenny, ran a machine shop for years. IN Columbus, OH. Sometimes he would get an order, with a piece of metal to work, no idea what the alloy was, but there was a guard with the order, and his role was to control access to the alloy, and retreive every particle and fileing from the metal in addition to the actual work piece. And no idea what it was, where it would go, how it would be used. But the specs would be executed properly. And they would come back with a different job in a few months. Secret Squirrel stuff we called it.

    I never got to visit the shop, he retired and sold off the parts and machines I think. He was as Italian as you could be growing up in Columbus, Oh, which was as midwestern a cow town, except for the German brewery neighborhood, as you could get. But there was never an Italian neighborhood. We went out to Italian restaurants in FL with him and Aunt Kitty, and Mom and Dad, the few good years they all had together down there. Veal Osso Bucco and a glass of red wine, Italian red wine, he was quiet but friendly.

  46. 46.

    J R in WV

    I’m feeling better now, I’ll try going back to bed. So be seeing you guys in the am.

  47. 47.

    lowtechcyclist

    @Duane:

    Here’s to Richard Overton. May he enjoy many more birthday cigars. Is he the guy that invented the Overton window?

    I don’t know, but I’m gonna try to move this Overton window in about 50 years!

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