World War II Veterans

[Guest American Sports Fan]

I was curious to see how many were still alive.

 

Glad to hear I'm not the only one who looks such stuff up then!

 

Was trying to figure out what the youngest year of birth for WWII veterans is now and more importantly who is the oldest WWII veteran and the youngest WWII veteran alive in the world today.

 

All I could find was info on Calvin Graham (1930-1992) who was the youngest American to serve in World War II at the age of 12 > http://en.wikipedia....i/Calvin_Graham

 

It would be fascinating to find out, and I'm sure you can probably get that information for some individual countries if you dug hard enough, but trying to pin down the extremes worldwide would take a lot of research. WWII really was a global affair and dozens of countries can claim combat veterans, even if many of their contributions are largely unknown or unpublicized compared to the major powers. For instance:

 

There were nearly 7 million WWII veterans from India, including about 40,000 who were so fed up with colonial rule that they enlisted on the Axis side

 

Brazil committed an Expeditionary Force of 25,000 troops to the Italian campaign in 1944

 

The 30,000 strong Cyprus Regiment (both Greek and Turkish - possibly the last time they ever agreed on anything!) fought under British command for almost the entire war

 

The Cuban navy sank a German sub in 1943

 

The Mexican Expeditionary Air Force (under US command) flew 59 combat missions over the Philippines in 1945 - the only action the Mexican military has ever fought outside Mexican borders.

 

US army forces included approximately 115 volunteer soldiers from the Dominican Republic. New Zealand's army included infantry regiments from Fiji and Samoa.

 

The Allied East African campaign of 1941 was conducted by a multi-national force that included soldiers drawn from many African countries and colonies (including Ethiopia, Eritrea, Sudan, Kenya, South Africa, Nigeria, and Ghana)

[Guest American Sports Fan]

Dug a little deeper to get some information about the war veterans from Mexico tonight, as I was curious. The surviving contingent of Mexican veterans is definitely very small, no more than half a dozen at most, and likely less. I can't get an exact count, but the head of the Mexican Association of WWII veterans said that only 10 out of 300 were still alive in 2003, and several more have definitely died in the years since. The most recent information I could find once I knocked the rust off my Spanish mentioned three surviving veterans attending a ceremony in April of 2011: two pilots, Col. Carlos Garduño Nuñez (age unknown) and Capt. Jose Luis Pratt Ramos (89 this year if still alive), and chief mechanic Maximiliano Quintanilla (age unknown). A third pilot (Col. Justino Reyes Retana, 89 this year if still alive) survived at least in 2010; he wasn't mentioned in the 2011 article.

[TAFKAG 70]

Have just been watching the Band of Brothers series again, that, apart from portraying the Brits as blithering idiots or in minor support roles and sometimes both, is one of the best pieces of war drama ever made. I was looking up Easy Company on Wiki and there are quite a few still left alive. I think Richard Winters would get a UK obit.

 

The living ones I could find at first glance, ordered by birth. I'm not going to go in depth, this is just what I saw from the Wiki article for Band of Brothers. Anyone who has more can expand.

 

Frank Perconte (b. March 10 1917)

Richard Winters (b. January 21 1918)

Joseph A. Lesniewski (b. August 29 1920)

Lynn "Buck" Compton (b. December 31, 1921)

Donald Malarkey (b. 1921)

William Guarnere (b. April 28 1922)

Edward Heffron (b. May 16, 1923)

Darrell "Shifty" Powers (b. 1923)

Frank Perconte's died.

[Guest Guest]

One of the last surviving members of the'band of brothers' Earl McLung has died http://www.marcusbrotherton.com/honor-earl-mcclung-1923-2013/

[TAFKAG 70]

Have just been watching the Band of Brothers series again, that, apart from portraying the Brits as blithering idiots or in minor support roles and sometimes both, is one of the best pieces of war drama ever made. I was looking up Easy Company on Wiki and there are quite a few still left alive. I think Richard Winters would get a UK obit.

 

The living ones I could find at first glance, ordered by birth. I'm not going to go in depth, this is just what I saw from the Wiki article for Band of Brothers. Anyone who has more can expand.

 

Frank Perconte (b. March 10 1917)

Richard Winters (b. January 21 1918)

Joseph A. Lesniewski (b. August 29 1920)

Lynn "Buck" Compton (b. December 31, 1921)

Donald Malarkey (b. 1921)

William Guarnere (b. April 28 1922)

Edward Heffron (b. May 16, 1923)

Darrell "Shifty" Powers (b. 1923)

Frank Perconte's died.

And another one - Edward 'Babe' Heffron.

[Guest Guest]

Crikey at this rate the band of brothers are going to be dis-banded by christmas!

[Whitehouse 872]

The last known veteran of the battle for Kornwerderzand, also known as the Battle of the Afsluitdijk, has died today at the age of 95. This battle was in the early stages of the second worldwar. Germany invaded the Netherlands in May 1940. Kornwerderzand was a system of Casemates, defended by the Dutch army. They held on to the Afsluitdijk until they were told to surrender after Rotterdam had been leveled.

[time 8,595]

The last surviving RAF veteran imprisoned in Colditz, Francis 'Errol' Flinn, has died aged 97.

 

He didn't escape but was freed im May 1944 after feigning insanity.

[Dr. Zorders 1,271]

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/sgt-walter-ehlers-wwii-medal-honor-recipient-dies-92-n34836

 

Walter D. Ehlers, Medal of Honor recipient, dies aged 92.

[charon 4,943]

Molly Bobak at 92, http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/molly-lamb-bobak-canada-s-first-female-overseas-war-artist-dead-at-95-1.2556872

 

 

Out of the 32 Official WW2 War artists, she was the last.

 

 

Tried looking as was sure there was a ''last of'' thread but damned if I can find it.

[adrian0719 220]

William Guarene, who was portrayed in 'Band of Brothers'.

[Death Impends 7,957]

Kiss of death for Glenn McDuffie, believed to be the sailor in the iconic Alfred Eisenstaedt V-J Day photo.

[maryportfuncity 10,645]

Bill Ash (aged 96), tramp turned Spitfire pilot and - apparently - a role model for Steve McQueen's character in The Great Escape.

 

Link: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/10799031/William-Ash-obituary.html

[Guest pedro]

WAAF girl and author lettuce Curtis has died aged 99. There is a telegraph obit if someone could link to it for me, would be appreciated.

[maryportfuncity 10,645]

WAAF girl and author lettuce Curtis has died aged 99. There is a telegraph obit if someone could link to it for me, would be appreciated.

 

You mean Lettice, not Lettuce, right?

 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/10991463/Lettice-Curtis-obituary.html

[Guest pedro]

I did indeed was defeated by predictive text. Thanks for linking. Unique pick for me. Not many of the girls left now.

[Phantom 2,533]

Theodore Van Kirk the last surviving crew member from the Enola Gay has died at the age of 93

[Sir Creep 7,070]

I'm proud to post the obit of Army Lieutenant Leon Kent, who has died at 99 yrs old, and who led troops at the Battle of the Bulge. RIP

SCreep

http://news.yahoo.com/leon-kent-hero-battle-bulge-dies-99-205148453.html

[Sir Creep 7,070]

Dug a little deeper to get some information about the war veterans from Mexico tonight, as I was curious. The surviving contingent of Mexican veterans is definitely very small, no more than half a dozen at most, and likely less. I can't get an exact count, but the head of the Mexican Association of WWII veterans said that only 10 out of 300 were still alive in 2003, and several more have definitely died in the years since. The most recent information I could find once I knocked the rust off my Spanish mentioned three surviving veterans attending a ceremony in April of 2011: two pilots, Col. Carlos Garduño Nuñez (age unknown) and Capt. Jose Luis Pratt Ramos (89 this year if still alive), and chief mechanic Maximiliano Quintanilla (age unknown). A third pilot (Col. Justino Reyes Retana, 89 this year if still alive) survived at least in 2010; he wasn't mentioned in the 2011 article.

Well the last WWI vets died in 2004, so adding 27 years between the ends of that and WWII, it's a safe bet the last WWII veteran will die sometime in the vacinity of 2030.

SC

[Sir Creep 7,070]

Gardner Norton Brown, bombardier. RIP

SC

http://vineyardgazette.com/obituaries/2015/03/05/gardner-norton-brown-was-world-war-ii-bombardier

[Sir Creep 7,070]

A month ago, but Donald Gordon Camp (90) WWII vet has died.

SC

http://www.warhistoryonline.com/war-articles/wwii-veteran-dies-90-18th-final-mission-touring-b-17.html/attachment/bilde-82

[Sir Creep 7,070]

Donald LeBay, who joined the Marines at 17 as a high school junior, dies at 90.

Semper Fi

SC

http://m.toledoblade.com/Deaths/2014/02/24/Kenneth-F-LeBay-1923-2014-World-War-II-vet-was-a-decorated-Marine.html

[Sir Creep 7,070]

Fighter Pilot/Colonel Dean Hess, dead at a solid 97 yrs old. RIP

SC

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/03/08/us/dean-hess-preacher-and-fighter-pilot-dies-at-97.html?referrer=

[Sir Creep 7,070]

Thanks for your service, Lucy Coffey. 108 years old.

SC

http://www.stripes.com/news/veterans/oldest-female-veteran-dies-at-108-in-san-antonio-1.335590

[Sir Creep 7,070]

One of the last surviving Doolittle Raiders, Lt. Col. Robert Hite, dies of Alzheimer's at 95. Thanks for for service. RIP

SirC

"Hite's death leaves two other surviving Raiders: retired Lt. Col. Richard "Dick" Cole of Texas, who was Doolitte's co-pilot, and Staff Sgt. David Thatcher of Montana."

http://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/la-me-robert-hite-20150331-story.html