by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist
Richard Overton wasn't a hero in the sense that he did something spectacular, like throw himself on a hand grenade or parachute behind enemy lines, but he was a hero because he stepped forward when his country needed him. Mr. Overton, a native and life-long resident of Austin, Texas, was already in his mid-thirties by the time the inevitability of the U.S. entering the Second World War was becoming obvious. He could have probably stood aside and done something for the war effort as a civilian, but that was not the type of person he was.
Richard Overton threw caution aside and enlisted in the all-black 1887th Engineer Aviation Battalion, a unit that arrived at Pearl Harbor immediately after the Japanese attack, and went on to see service in the battles of Iwo Jima and Okinawa as U.S. forces worked their way across the Pacific. The war in the Pacific was the true "hell" of World War II.
Richard Overton died yesterday in Austin at the age of one-hundred-and-twelve. At the time of his passing he was the oldest World War II veteran still living in the United States, as well as the nation's oldest living man.
The old soldier credited his longevity to an occasional cigar and a glass of whiskey, which he enjoyed while sitting on the front porch of the home that he built in Austin as a young man. One news report stated that even past the age of one-hundred, Mr Overton would still drive local widows to church on Sunday mornings.
The veterans of World War II are quickly disappearing, with those still surviving now in their nineties - and beyond. For those who might know someone who still survives from that momentous era of American history, shake their hand and offer thanks while there is still time.
Time ran out for Richard Overton yesterday, but I'm sure that he left his front porch and headed up the steep path to Glory secure in the knowledge that he had done more than his share to make the world a better place. That would be a wonderful legacy for anyone t leave behind.
Citizen Journalist
Richard Overton wasn't a hero in the sense that he did something spectacular, like throw himself on a hand grenade or parachute behind enemy lines, but he was a hero because he stepped forward when his country needed him. Mr. Overton, a native and life-long resident of Austin, Texas, was already in his mid-thirties by the time the inevitability of the U.S. entering the Second World War was becoming obvious. He could have probably stood aside and done something for the war effort as a civilian, but that was not the type of person he was.
Richard Overton threw caution aside and enlisted in the all-black 1887th Engineer Aviation Battalion, a unit that arrived at Pearl Harbor immediately after the Japanese attack, and went on to see service in the battles of Iwo Jima and Okinawa as U.S. forces worked their way across the Pacific. The war in the Pacific was the true "hell" of World War II.
Richard Overton died yesterday in Austin at the age of one-hundred-and-twelve. At the time of his passing he was the oldest World War II veteran still living in the United States, as well as the nation's oldest living man.
The old soldier credited his longevity to an occasional cigar and a glass of whiskey, which he enjoyed while sitting on the front porch of the home that he built in Austin as a young man. One news report stated that even past the age of one-hundred, Mr Overton would still drive local widows to church on Sunday mornings.
The veterans of World War II are quickly disappearing, with those still surviving now in their nineties - and beyond. For those who might know someone who still survives from that momentous era of American history, shake their hand and offer thanks while there is still time.
Time ran out for Richard Overton yesterday, but I'm sure that he left his front porch and headed up the steep path to Glory secure in the knowledge that he had done more than his share to make the world a better place. That would be a wonderful legacy for anyone t leave behind.
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