# Are there any living US WWI veterans left alive? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 7, 2004, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-living-us-wwi-veterans-left-alive/278509 "2004-12-07T06:19:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ryle\_Dup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Ryle\_Dup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ryle_Dup)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2004, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-living-us-wwi-veterans-left-alive/278509/1 "2004-12-07T06:19:11Z")
If there are any, I’d love to see a link about him, if they have all died, does anyone know who the last alive was? ---
**Author:** ![David\_Simmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de053/32.png) [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2004, 6:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-living-us-wwi-veterans-left-alive/278509/2 "2004-12-07T06:57:59Z")
All living WWI vets are still alive. 😉 According to this site there are[fewer that 200 WWI veterans living](http://www.enquirer.com/editions/2004/08/18/loc_vfw18robley.html) as of 18 Aug 2004. ---
**Author:** ![wolf\_meister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf_meister/32/15202_2.png) [@wolf\_meister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolf_meister)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2004, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-living-us-wwi-veterans-left-alive/278509/3 "2004-12-07T07:14:10Z")
According to this site: [http://www.va.gov/pressrel/amwars01.htm](http://www.va.gov/pressrel/amwars01.htm) the estimated # of WWI veterans as of Sept 2004 would have been 623. Also, they predict that 1 WWI veteran will still be alive as of 2018. It is a Department of Veterans Affairs website and so would be considered somewhat reliable. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2004, 7:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-living-us-wwi-veterans-left-alive/278509/4 "2004-12-07T07:24:23Z")
It’s sad that they’ll all be gone soon. We’ll be hanging on for years though, I’m pretty sure there’s at least one Confederate widow left. ---
**Author:** ![chorpler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chorpler/32/2888_2.png) [@chorpler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chorpler)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2004, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-living-us-wwi-veterans-left-alive/278509/5 "2004-12-07T07:52:23Z")
I thought that the last Civil War widow just died a couple months ago. I remember that because it was so shocking to hear. ---
**Author:** ![chorpler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chorpler/32/2888_2.png) [@chorpler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chorpler)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2004, 8:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-living-us-wwi-veterans-left-alive/278509/6 "2004-12-07T08:05:56Z")
And by “Civil War widow,” I meant a woman married to a Civil War veteran. IIRC, she married him when he was quite old and she was quite young. This being the board that it is, I’m sure somebody will be along shortly to provide the details that escape me at this hour. ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2004, 10:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-living-us-wwi-veterans-left-alive/278509/7 "2004-12-07T10:40:15Z")
> [@wolf\_meister](#): > > According to this site: > [http://www.va.gov/pressrel/amwars01.htm](http://www.va.gov/pressrel/amwars01.htm) > the estimated # of WWI veterans as of Sept 2004 would have been 623. Also, they predict that 1 WWI veteran will still be alive as of 2018. It is a Department of Veterans Affairs website and so would be considered somewhat reliable. How is that possible? Wasn’t there a lower age limit to enlist? If so, to be alive in 2018, the veteran would be 118 years old. ---
**Author:** ![Malodorous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e47774/32.png) [@Malodorous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malodorous)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2004, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-living-us-wwi-veterans-left-alive/278509/8 "2004-12-07T12:06:03Z")
Ah yes, the second greatest generation. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2004, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-living-us-wwi-veterans-left-alive/278509/9 "2004-12-07T12:32:55Z")
> [@chorpler](#): > > And by “Civil War widow,” I meant a woman married to a Civil War veteran. IIRC, she married him when he was quite old and she was quite young. This being the board that it is, I’m sure somebody will be along shortly to provide the details that escape me at this hour. Yep. It was an extreme May-December marriage. She was 18 and he was 81 at the time they were married. **Aesiron:** I think that the WW1 vets that are alive today all enlisted near the end of the war, and are all over 100 today. ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2004, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-living-us-wwi-veterans-left-alive/278509/10 "2004-12-07T13:04:29Z")
[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3765811.stm](http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3765811.stm) > [@](#): > > Alberta Martin passed away aged 97 at a nursing home in Alabama on 31 May after suffering a heart attack. > > In 1927, she married the 81-year-old war veteran of the Confederate army, William Martin, when she was 21. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2004, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-living-us-wwi-veterans-left-alive/278509/11 "2004-12-07T13:27:43Z")
You people are so behind the times. Alberta Martin was heralded as the “Last Confederate Widow” until her death brought publicity and puzzled an Arkansas family who had real “Last Conferate Widow” that was still alive. [http://groups.msn.com/AwShucks/general.msnw?action=get\_message&mview=0&ID\_Message=134&LastModified=4675476326638381846](http://groups.msn.com/AwShucks/general.msnw?action=get_message&mview=0&ID_Message=134&LastModified=4675476326638381846) Good advice from the article: ``` "But caution is advised before referring to someone as the "last" of anything. The best proof of that is the recent discovery of 89-year-old Maudie Cecelia Hopkins of Lexa, Ark. Her first husband was William M. Cantrell of the Virginia Infantry, and Mrs. Hopkins is very much alive, although in poor health. A quiet lady, less than 5 feet tall, she remains quite unimpressed by her historical status, which to her is simply a long-ago part of her life." ``` ---
**Author:** ![aahala](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a88e4f/32.png) [@aahala](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aahala)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2004, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-living-us-wwi-veterans-left-alive/278509/12 "2004-12-07T15:06:59Z")
> [@wolf\_meister](#): > > According to this site: > [http://www.va.gov/pressrel/amwars01.htm](http://www.va.gov/pressrel/amwars01.htm) > the estimated # of WWI veterans as of Sept 2004 would have been 623. Also, they predict that 1 WWI veteran will still be alive as of 2018. It is a Department of Veterans Affairs website and so would be considered somewhat reliable. If any of these individuals were officers, I hope they remembered to resign their commission.😃 ---
**Author:** ![wolf\_meister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf_meister/32/15202_2.png) [@wolf\_meister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolf_meister)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2004, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-living-us-wwi-veterans-left-alive/278509/13 "2004-12-07T15:14:16Z")
**Aesiron** I’m only quoting the projections from that webite. As I said, it is an official Dept of Veterans Affairs government website and not some “I Saw Elvis In a UFO” webpage. Granted, people living to an age of 118 are _extremely_ rare. But it is possible. Haven’t a few people made it to 120? (That French woman who died a few years ago made it to 124 I think). Also, peolple have lied about their age in order to join the military below the required minimum age. (Audie Murphy, Rod Steiger to name a few). Just speaking off the cuff I know that the recently deceased US Rep Joe Moakley (Dem - MA) joined the Navy at 15 years of age. So, it is possible that a WWI veteran in 2018 could be a srpy, youthful 115. ---
**Author:** ![David\_Simmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de053/32.png) [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2004, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-living-us-wwi-veterans-left-alive/278509/14 "2004-12-07T17:19:53Z")
By the way, I fully intend to be the last surviving WWII vet. It’s a tough and thankless job but someone has to do it. ---
**Author:** ![Crandolph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7cd45c/32.png) [@Crandolph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crandolph)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2004, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-living-us-wwi-veterans-left-alive/278509/15 "2004-12-07T18:25:49Z")
> [@Diceman](#): > > **Aesiron:** I think that the WW1 vets that are alive today all enlisted near the end of the war In the case of US servicemen, sure… we were only in the war the last year. ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2004, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-living-us-wwi-veterans-left-alive/278509/16 "2004-12-07T22:08:03Z")
When my grandmother passed away in 2001, the government had to stop sending her a Spanish-American war widow’s pension. She really liked that $13/month! ---
**Author:** ![David\_Simmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de053/32.png) [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2004, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-living-us-wwi-veterans-left-alive/278509/17 "2004-12-07T22:15:53Z")
> [@Crandolph](#): > > In the case of US servicemen, sure… we were only in the war the last year. If you mean how long the US actually had forces in Europe that’s pretty close. However the US declared war on 16 April 1917. The war ended 11 November 1918 as far as actual combat was concerned. That’s just a few days short of 19 months. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2004, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-living-us-wwi-veterans-left-alive/278509/18 "2004-12-08T00:55:02Z")
> [@BobT](#): > > When my grandmother passed away in 2001, the government had to stop sending her a Spanish-American war widow’s pension. > > She really liked that $13/month! And there’s a couple of Civil War widows still kicking (mind you, they weren’t even _born_ during the Civil War, but none the less, managed to marry some old geezer when they were a hot young thing, and thus qualify for pensions and death benefits. (Personally, I say, “Go granpa!”) ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2004, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-living-us-wwi-veterans-left-alive/278509/19 "2004-12-08T04:55:11Z")
wolf\_meister writes: \> (That French woman who died a few years ago made it to 124 I think). She died at 122. ---
**Author:** ![danceswithcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9e8a1a/32.png) [@danceswithcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/danceswithcats)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2004, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-living-us-wwi-veterans-left-alive/278509/20 "2004-12-08T05:12:35Z")
[According to this article](http://www.sbsun.com/Stories/0,1413,208~12588~2580601,00.html) one veteran of WWI is still alive at 103. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-there-any-living-us-wwi-veterans-left-alive/278509.md?page=2)