# Who are the most significant living figures from WWII? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 16, 2013, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-most-significant-living-figures-from-wwii/668980 "2013-09-16T16:11:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Rodgers01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b19c9b/32.png) [@Rodgers01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rodgers01)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2013, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-most-significant-living-figures-from-wwii/668980/1 "2013-09-16T16:11:49Z")
Doesn’t necessarily have to be a soldier, and doesn’t have to be someone who was famous at the time (or now). Just someone who played some significant or well-recognized role in regards to that conflict. For example, Miep Gies, one of the people who helped hide Anne Frank and her family, would have counted if she hadn’t died a few years ago; ditto Rochus Misch, Hitler’s bodyguard and the last survivor of the Berlin bunkers who died just this month. What other people along those lines are left? ---
**Author:** ![Fretful\_Porpentine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fretful_porpentine/32/2873_2.png) [@Fretful\_Porpentine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fretful_Porpentine)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2013, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-most-significant-living-figures-from-wwii/668980/2 "2013-09-16T16:30:33Z")
Elie Wiesel, for a start. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2013, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-most-significant-living-figures-from-wwii/668980/3 "2013-09-16T16:55:15Z")
In terms of heads of state, [King Michael of Romania](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_of_Romania) and [Tsar Simeon of Bulgaria](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simeon_Saxe-Coburg-Gotha) are the last two standing. ---
**Author:** ![Shmendrik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Shmendrik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shmendrik)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2013, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-most-significant-living-figures-from-wwii/668980/4 "2013-09-16T16:59:31Z")
> **[Ben Ferencz](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Ferencz)** > > Benjamin Berell Ferencz (March 11, 1920 – April 7, 2023) was an American lawyer. He was an investigator of Nazi war crimes after World War II and the chief prosecutor for the United States Army at the Einsatzgruppen trial, one of the 12 Subsequent Nuremberg trials held by US authorities at Nuremberg, Germany. When the Einsatzgruppen reports were discovered, Ferencz pushed for a trial based on their evidence. When confronted with a lack of staff and resources, he personally volunteered to serve I’d be surprised if any other Chief Prosecutors from the Nuremberg trials are still around. ---
**Author:** ![Shmendrik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Shmendrik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shmendrik)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2013, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-most-significant-living-figures-from-wwii/668980/5 "2013-09-16T17:04:18Z")
> **[Theodore Van Kirk](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodore_Van_Kirk)** > > Theodore Jerome "Dutch" Van Kirk (February 27, 1921 – July 28, 2014) was a navigator in the United States Army Air Forces, best known as the navigator of the Enola Gay when it dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima. Upon the death of fellow crewman Morris Jeppson on March 30, 2010, Van Kirk became the last surviving member of the Enola Gay crew. > Van Kirk was born in Northumberland, Pennsylvania, to Frederick and Grace (Snyder) Van Kirk. He joined the Army Air Force Aviation Cadet Program in... Navigator and last surviving crew member of the Enola Gay. ---
**Author:** ![Pixel\_Dent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bc8723/32.png) [@Pixel\_Dent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pixel_Dent)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2013, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-most-significant-living-figures-from-wwii/668980/6 "2013-09-16T18:50:42Z")
I believe Warren Nyer is still alive. He worked on the Manhattan Project at both Oak Ridge and Los Alamos (and before that at the University of Chicago where much of the precursor work was done). ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2013, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-most-significant-living-figures-from-wwii/668980/7 "2013-09-16T20:01:02Z")
There are ten still living WWII recipients of the Medal of Honor: [Charles Coolidge](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_H._Coolidge), [Francis Currey](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_S._Currey), [Walter Ehlers](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_D._Ehlers), [John Hawk](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_D._Hawk), [Arthur Jackson](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_J._Jackson), [Robert Maxwell](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_D._Maxwell), [Nicholas Oresko](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicholas_Oresko), [Wilburn Ross](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilburn_K._Ross), [George Sakato](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_T._Sakato), and [Hershel Williams](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hershel_W._Williams). ---
**Author:** ![April\_R](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@April\_R](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/April_R)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2013, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-most-significant-living-figures-from-wwii/668980/8 "2013-09-16T20:05:07Z")
My grandpa , Stanley Harris. IMHO. He was in some of the first wave of troops to go in and helped liberate concentration camps in World War II. He however does not talk about World War II very much. He also served in the Korean war where he stepped near a landmine and had shrapnel embedded in his back which some of it is still there . My grandpa is pretty badass ---
**Author:** ![chacoguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/50afbb/32.png) [@chacoguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chacoguy)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2013, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-most-significant-living-figures-from-wwii/668980/9 "2013-09-16T20:24:42Z")
[There are four surviving Doolittle Raiders.](http://www.doolittleraider.com/survivors.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2013, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-most-significant-living-figures-from-wwii/668980/10 "2013-09-16T20:32:49Z")
For the non-military, there’s [Dame Vera Lynn](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vera_Lynn). ---
**Author:** ![SeldomSeen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ba0ec/32.png) [@SeldomSeen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeldomSeen)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2013, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-most-significant-living-figures-from-wwii/668980/11 "2013-09-16T22:48:29Z")
Geo. H. W. Bush was a WW2 naval aviator. Rumors to the contrary notwithstanding, he appears to still be among the living. ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2013, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-most-significant-living-figures-from-wwii/668980/12 "2013-09-17T00:16:21Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > There are ten still living WWII recipients of the Medal of Honor: [Charles Coolidge](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_H._Coolidge), [Francis Currey](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_S._Currey), [Walter Ehlers](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_D._Ehlers), [John Hawk](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_D._Hawk), [Arthur Jackson](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_J._Jackson), [Robert Maxwell](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_D._Maxwell), [Nicholas Oresko](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicholas_Oresko), [Wilburn Ross](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilburn_K._Ross), [George Sakato](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_T._Sakato), and [Hershel Williams](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hershel_W._Williams). There is one WWII recipient of the Victoria Cross still alive: [John Cruickshank](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Cruickshank). And three George Cross recipients: [Stuart Archer](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stuart_Archer), [John Gregson](http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20020422/slug/how-a-seaman-saved-a-gunner-s-life-on-a-burning-ship.177153), [Ernest Wooding](http://www.naval-history.net/WW2MedalsBr-GC.htm#wood) ---
**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:** [September 17, 2013, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-most-significant-living-figures-from-wwii/668980/13 "2013-09-17T02:07:00Z")
Chester Nez, the last original Navajo code talker, is apparently still alive: [http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2013/03/04/last-surviving-original-code-talker-chester-nez-speaks-during-northland-colleges](http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2013/03/04/last-surviving-original-code-talker-chester-nez-speaks-during-northland-colleges) ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2013, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-most-significant-living-figures-from-wwii/668980/14 "2013-09-17T02:45:49Z")
Not terribly significant to the war, but on the same level (or higher) as George Bush: [Elizabeth II](http://www.history.com/news/8-things-you-may-not-know-about-queen-elizabeth-ii) > [@History.com](#): > > After months of begging her father to let his heir pitch in, Elizabeth—then an 18-year-old princess—joined the Women’s Auxiliary Territorial Service during World War II. Known as Second Subaltern Elizabeth Windsor, she donned a pair of coveralls and trained in London as a mechanic and military truck driver. The queen remains the only female member of the royal family to have entered the armed forces and is the only living head of state who served in World War II. ---
**Author:** ![Llama\_Llogophile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@Llama\_Llogophile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Llama_Llogophile)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2013, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-most-significant-living-figures-from-wwii/668980/15 "2013-09-17T02:46:29Z")
Chuck Yeager and Bob Hoover - two people who will probably, against all odds, die of old age. ---
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2013, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-most-significant-living-figures-from-wwii/668980/16 "2013-09-17T07:29:35Z")
The tank ace Otto Carius: [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otto\_Carius](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otto_Carius) and Erich Rudorffer, the highest scoring ace pilot still alive: [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erich\_Rudorffer](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erich_Rudorffer) ---
**Author:** ![glaeken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@glaeken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glaeken)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2013, 9:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-most-significant-living-figures-from-wwii/668980/17 "2013-09-17T09:21:19Z")
Eric Brown the test pilot is still with us. [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/newreply.php?do=newreply&noquote=1&p=16670623](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/newreply.php?do=newreply&noquote=1&p=16670623) He holds the record for the most different types of aircraft flown by one person which is 487. It’s unlikely that record will ever be matched as it’s not likely someone would ever have access to the huge variety of aircraft used during WW2 like Brown did. ---
**Author:** ![glaeken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@glaeken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glaeken)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2013, 9:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-most-significant-living-figures-from-wwii/668980/18 "2013-09-17T09:26:16Z")
Eric Brown the test pilot is still with us. [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/newreply.php?do=newreply&noquote=1&p=16670623](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/newreply.php?do=newreply&noquote=1&p=16670623) He holds the record for the most different types of aircraft flown by one person which is 487. It’s unlikely that record will ever be matched as it’s not likely someone would ever have access to the huge variety of aircraft used during WW2 like Brown did. He is one of those guys where when you read through a list of everything he has done it’s difficult to believe a single person could do all that. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2013, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-most-significant-living-figures-from-wwii/668980/19 "2013-09-17T12:45:38Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > Not terribly significant to the war, but on the same level (or higher) as George Bush: > [Elizabeth II](http://www.history.com/news/8-things-you-may-not-know-about-queen-elizabeth-ii) Bonus to this, years later when she was Queen, her car broke down and she directed the driver in the repairs apparently. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2013, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-most-significant-living-figures-from-wwii/668980/20 "2013-09-17T17:13:02Z")
Is the criterion people who were significant then, or who are significant now? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-most-significant-living-figures-from-wwii/668980.md?page=2)