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War survivors

D

DeltaSteve

Member
Got to wondering,how many Pearl Harbor survivors are still alive? Are there any WW1 survivors left?When I was a kid(born in '56) you would still (rarely) hear about a Civil War survivor passing.Oh,If we could only talk to them. Remember the stories,the experiences,the horrors of it.I was never in the service,niether was my dad,or his father,or his father(Great grandfather emmigrated from Switzerland in the 1880s).Many thanks to all the veterans,of all the wars.May your service not be forgotten.
 
My uncle Ernie is a WWII navy vet. He served on the USS Hambelton. A destroyer. He lied about his age so that he could join. He is still with us and is in his mid 90’s !
 
When I was growing up there was an old man that lived across the road from us, We lived on a lake and he used to build row boats, many of the folks around the lake had row boats that he had built. I was probably 5 or 6 yrs old when I would go visit him and watch him work, he would tell stories of the old west. He told of seeing Buffalo Bill Cody and Wyatt Earp and how the Civil War was going on when he was a young boy. I visited him every chance I had, one time when I was maybe 3 or 4 I wandered over there and fell into the lake behind his house, it was a steep banking and I couldn’t get back up, he heard me crying and came and pulled me up and out of the water. I had no mother so my Grandmother lived with us we both got a good lecture when my dad got home, she for not watching and me for not staying where I belonged. I remember he was 98 yrs. Old when he died and that was probably 1955 or 56 so I would have been 7 or 8. I might not be here if it wasn't for him and sadly I don't remember his name.
 
My neighbor down the road is 96, he was on a minesweeper that was in for repairs at Pearl Harbor. He was in barracks the day of the attack. He has some great stories.
 
The last WWI vet died a couple years ago. It was on the news. He was 100+ years old. My dad and 5 uncle's were in WW2, sadly they are all gone now. One was killed in the Phillipines. Last one died a year ago. He was in WW2 and Korea.
 
I doubt you heard of any Civil War guy dying in 56,They would be 108 years old .So no. {that is age 17 in 1865 best case.]
 
Your thought of 108 years old is not too far off:

Bing report: "Albert Henry Woolson (February 11, 1850 – August 2, 1956) was the last known surviving member of the Union Army; he was also the last surviving Civil War veteran on either side whose status is undisputed."

I was born in 1947 and recall (when a young child) hearing my parents and others talking about a small handful of Civil War survivors dying in the early 1950s. Some sources say the last survivor was a Southerner who died in 1959, but it's not verified.
 
Think there was a ww2 vet that survived nnalert on the news a few days ago. He was 104 and leaving the hospital.
 
When I was in grammar school in the early fifties we had a visit during assembly from a very old man who he/they claimed was the last of the civil war veterans. IDK. TDF
 
I remember the cover of Life Magazine in 1960 with a color photo of the flag draped coffin of the last Civil War veteran.

He had been a Confederate drummer boy.

Dean
 
I think the last registered vet from the Civil War passed in '48. There was a lady, just in the news this year, who is the last known child beneficiary of a Civil War vet. Thought that was interesting.

Mike
 
They are going quickly, John.

I glance at the obituaries in the Cincinnati Enquirer each Sunday. Once there were many WWII veterans each Sunday but few these days. Sometimes none for 2 or 3 weeks. Yesterday there were two. Hasn't happened for several weeks.

Dean
 
On second thought, I believe it was 1959.

I believe that the magazine is still in the attic somewhere.

Dean
 
(quoted from post at 12:51:52 12/07/20) Think there was a ww2 vet that survived nnalert on the news a few days ago. He was 104 and leaving the hospital.
Click to expand...

Yes, D Slater I saw that too.
 
"[b:654c4848f0][i:654c4848f0]the last Civil War veteran[/i:654c4848f0][/b:654c4848f0]"

Here's <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Woolson">one source</a> of information.
 
I remember my grandmother who was probably 89 or so at the time taking me to the front porch of their home. I was 6 year old. She pointed to where the night riders came thru and all the chickens and sweet potatoes that pappy had. She was a young girl then but had vivid memories of all of it. Also told of Jessie James staying all night in there barn after a Bank robbery near by. Lots of history just plain never got wrote down or recorded. Not uncommon to find a old basket of old photos from years back, but 100 years from now what will they do when they find that micro chip or hot stick.
 
My dad was born in 1924. He said he knew a couple civil war vets when he was a kid but they were very old at that time. An 18 year old who enlisted at the end of the civil war would have been in his upper 70s when dad was born. I remember WW1 vets as a lot of people my age will. And everyone in my age range grew up surrounded by very patriotic WW2 vets. When i read the obituaries of these old vets I often am very surprised to find out they had high rankings and possessed Purple Hearts and medals from WW2. They never boasted about their accomplishments in the service. They just blended into the crowd after their days in the service and started a career.
 
My good friend and fiddle player in our little band was 98 last may, he was a Navy cook on ship in
WW 2, Sadley he is forgetting things now, but he still remembers songs & can play, he says playing with us guys keeps him going, still lives alone & mows his own Yard. He is really Independent and don't want any help. Gene
 
(quoted from post at 19:54:35 12/07/20) My grandpa was a WW1 vet born in 1895...
Click to expand...

So was mine on both counts.
He was in the Navy on a supply ship.
His ships regular route was from Jacksonville FL to the Azores and back.
His favorite story was about refueling the ship with coal.
Because at some island along the way they picked up coal and it was delivered to the ship and dumped in the hold by native women with a basket on their head.
And the women were all topless.
 
My dad, who's been gone a decade now was a WW2 vet. 8th army air force. Got drafted out of high school. He rarely talked about it, probably 3 times in my life. I'll never forget him saying he was 55 years old before he ever landed in a whole airplane. That and how he smoked and field stripped his cigarette when he finished.
 
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