Richard Overton, America’s oldest World War II veteran and the oldest man in the United States, died yesterday (Thursday, Dec. 27) at the age of 112. He was a native of Bastrop County, Texas and a longtime resident of Austin.
Overton volunteered for the Army starting in 1942 and served with the 188th Aviation Engineer Battalion, an all-black unit that served on various islands in the Pacific.
“He was there at Pearl Harbor when the battleships were still smoldering. He was there at Okinawa. He was there at Iwo Jima, where he said. ‘I only got out of there by the grace of God,'” former President Barack Obama said while honoring Overton during a Veterans Day ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery in 2013.
In a statement Thursday, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott called Overton “an American icon and a Texas legend.”
“With his quick wit and kind spirit he touched the lives of so many, and I am deeply honored to have known him,” Abbott said. “Richard Overton made us proud to be Texans and proud to be Americans. We can never repay Richard Overton for his service to our nation and for his lasting impact on the Lone Star State.”
Information from CNN.com contributed to this report.
