America’s Oldest Veteran Dies At 112

Richard Overton, 112, America’s oldest man, who was also the nation’s oldest surviving veteran, died on Thursday in Austin, Texas.

Overton enlisted in the Army in 1942, nine months after the December 7, 1941 Pearl Harbor attack. He served with the 188th Aviation Engineer Battalion, an all-black unit, and fought on Guam, Okinawa and Iwo Jima. Overton later said of Iwo Jima, “I only got out of there by the grace of God.”