# Who was the last surviving WWII general? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 10, 2018, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-last-surviving-wwii-general/824318 "2018-11-10T18:51:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**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:** [November 10, 2018, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-last-surviving-wwii-general/824318/1 "2018-11-10T18:51:50Z")
I’m talking about somebody who held the rank of general during World War II. I’m interested in Americans but feel free to throw in anyone from other countries. The last one I could find offhand was Jimmy Doolittle, who died on September 27, 1993. Matthew Ridgway came close, having died on July 26, 1993. But I figure there may have been more obscure former generals who outlived these famous ones. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2018, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-last-surviving-wwii-general/824318/2 "2018-11-10T19:06:13Z")
General Ira C. Eaker died in Aug 1987. > **[Ira C. Eaker](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ira_C._Eaker)** > > General (Honorary) Ira Clarence Eaker (April 13, 1896 – August 6, 1987) was a general of the United States Army Air Forces during World War II. Eaker, as second-in-command of the prospective Eighth Air Force, was sent to England to form and organize its bomber command. While he struggled to build up airpower in England, the organization of the Army Air Forces evolved and he was named commander of the Eighth Air Force on December 1, 1942. > Although his background was in single-engine fighter aircr... That’s as close to Doolittle that I’ve found. General Yeager is still alive today. But he was a flight officer in WWII. At 95 and still going he may be the oldest living WWII officer. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2018, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-last-surviving-wwii-general/824318/3 "2018-11-10T19:23:15Z")
Previous thread: [Are There Any WWII Generals Still Alive?](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=780572) ---
**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:** [November 10, 2018, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-last-surviving-wwii-general/824318/4 "2018-11-10T19:30:43Z")
There are plenty (i.e., hundreds of thousands) of American World War II veterans still alive. The oldest is 112, so he was born in 1906. There is a 103-year-old graduate of West Point who was an officer in World War II. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2018, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-last-surviving-wwii-general/824318/5 "2018-11-10T19:34:27Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > There are plenty (i.e., hundreds of thousands) of American World War II veterans still alive. The oldest is 112, so he was born in 1906. There is a 103-year-old graduate of West Point who was an officer in World War II. Were any of these generals during the war? ---
**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:** [November 10, 2018, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-last-surviving-wwii-general/824318/6 "2018-11-10T20:23:05Z")
I have no idea, and I never claimed to know if any of them were generals. Let me just note that someone who was born in 1906 would be 39 at the end of World War II. That would be young for a general, but it’s not impossible that someone that age could have become a general. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2018, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-last-surviving-wwii-general/824318/7 "2018-11-10T20:23:34Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > I have no idea, and I never claimed to know if any of them were generals. Let me just note that someone who was born in 1906 would be 39 at the end of World War II. That would be young for a general, but it’s not impossible that someone that age could have become a general. Ok, I was just wondering if you knew. ---
**Author:** ![ExTank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@ExTank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ExTank)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2018, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-last-surviving-wwii-general/824318/8 "2018-11-10T21:16:16Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > I have no idea, and I never claimed to know if any of them were generals. Let me just note that someone who was born in 1906 would be 39 at the end of World War II. That would be young for a general, _ **but it’s not impossible that someone that age could have become a general** _. Especially if they were in the USAAF as a combat pilot of some sort; saw a documentary on the P-47 Thunderbolt, chronicling a couple of squadrons operating in the Mediterranean Theater out of Corsica in support of the Italian Campaign, and they had a 22 y/o Major serving as Squadron Ops. Officer, and a 24 y/o Lieutenant Colonel commanding the outfit. ETA Group Commander was a 27 y/o Lt. Col. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2018, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-last-surviving-wwii-general/824318/9 "2018-11-11T05:28:54Z")
Colonel Pappy Boyinton died in Jan, 1988. He was 75. > **[Pappy Boyington](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pappy_Boyington)** > > Gregory "Pappy" Boyington (December 4, 1912 – January 11, 1988) was an American combat pilot who was a United States Marine Corps fighter ace during World War II. He received the Medal of Honor and the Navy Cross. A Marine aviator with the Pacific fleet in 1941, Boyington joined the "Flying Tigers" (1st American Volunteer Group) of the Republic of China Air Force and saw combat in Burma in late 1941 and 1942 during the military conflict between China and Japan. > In September 1942, Boyington rejoi... Doolittle got his rank after the raid on Japan. Otherwise he wouldn’t have made rank that quickly. It looks like he was the oldest surviving WWII general. ---
**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:** [November 11, 2018, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-last-surviving-wwii-general/824318/10 "2018-11-11T05:34:02Z")
> [@bibliophage](#): > > Previous thread: [Are There Any WWII Generals Still Alive?](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=780572) I see I even posted in that thread. Based on it, I’d say Dean Strother was probably the last surviving American WWII general. He was promoted to the rank in May 1943 and he died on September 24, 2000. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2018, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-last-surviving-wwii-general/824318/11 "2018-11-11T11:47:13Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I see I even posted in that thread. > > Based on it, I’d say Dean Strother was probably the last surviving American WWII general. He was promoted to the rank in May 1943 and he died on September 24, 2000. Wiki says [Robert Merrill Lee](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Merrill_Lee) died in June 2003; and: “In August 1944, Colonel Lee joined the Ninth Air Forces in France where he served as deputy commander for operations under Lieutenant General Hoyt S. Vandenberg and shared responsibility for the defeat of Germany in four major campaigns: Northern France, the Rhineland, the Ardennes, and Central Europe. He was promoted to brigadier general in January 1945.” ---
**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:** [November 11, 2018, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-last-surviving-wwii-general/824318/12 "2018-11-11T17:40:41Z")
Okay, so it’s Robert Merrill Lee. Unless somebody wants to post a general who outlived him. This shouldn’t be that difficult a question to answer. There were only around 1100 Americans who held the rank of general during WWII. Somebody must have a database somewhere. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2018, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-last-surviving-wwii-general/824318/13 "2018-11-11T18:24:42Z")
> [@ExTank](#): > > Especially if they were in the USAAF as a combat pilot of some sort; saw a documentary on the P-47 Thunderbolt, chronicling a couple of squadrons operating in the Mediterranean Theater out of Corsica in support of the Italian Campaign, and they had a 22 y/o Major serving as Squadron Ops. Officer, and a 24 y/o Lieutenant Colonel commanding the outfit. > > ETA Group Commander was a 27 y/o Lt. Col. A classic Bill Mauldin cartoon: [https://www.warwingsart.com/12thAirForce/UncleWillie.jpg](https://www.warwingsart.com/12thAirForce/UncleWillie.jpg)