Last surviving United States war veterans

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This is an incomplete list of the last surviving veterans of American wars. The last surviving veteran of any particular war, upon their death, marks the end of a historic era. Exactly who is the last surviving veteran is often an issue of contention, especially with records from long-ago wars. The "last man standing" was often very young at the time of enlistment and in many cases had lied about his age to gain entry into the service, which confuses matters further.

17th century[]

American Indian Wars (1622–1774)[]

18th century[]

French and Indian War (1754–1763)[]

  • John Owen (1741–1843) — British Army. Enlisted in 1758. Also fought in the Revolutionary War.[4][5]
  • Jonathan Benjamin (1738–1841) — British Army. Also fought in the Revolutionary War.[6]

American Revolutionary War (1775–1783)[]

A photograph of Daniel Frederick Bakeman (1759–1869).
A photograph of Lemuel Cook (1759–1866) published in The Last Men of the Revolution, one of the last official veterans of the American Revolutionary War who enlisted in the 2nd Continental Light Dragoons, Continental Army.
The book The Last Men of the Revolution (1864), compiled by Rev. E. B. Hillard and published by N. A. & R. A. Moore, claimed to include photos and biographies of six of the last surviving Revolutionary War veterans. None of the men interviewed in the book would become the last surviving Revolutionary War veteran but the photos published in the book are some of the few surviving photos of American Revolutionary War veterans.[7]

American Indian Wars (1775–1924)[]

Shays' Rebellion (1786–1787)[]

Whiskey Rebellion (1791–1794)[]

19th century[]

War of 1812 (1812–1815)[]

Toledo War (1835–1836)[]

  • Lewis W. Pearl (1815–1914) — Michigan State Militia. Later served in the Mexican-American War and the Civil War.[29][30]

Texas Revolution (1835–1836)[]

Dorr Rebellion (1841–1842)[]

Bear Flag Revolt (1846)[]

Mexican–American War (1846–1848)[]

Bleeding Kansas (1854–1861)[]

American Civil War (1861–1865)[]

  • Albert Henry Woolson (1850–1956) — Union Army. Last verified Union veteran.[43]
  • James Albert Hard (1843–1953) — Union Army. Last combat veteran. Served at First Bull Run, Antietam, and Chancellorsville.[44]
  • Pleasant Riggs Crump (1847–1951) — Confederate Army. Last verified Confederate veteran. See Last surviving Confederate veterans.
  • Alden G. Howell (1841–1947) — Confederate Army. Last commissioned Confederate officer.[40]: 1008 [45]: 1458 
  • James Frederick Lyon (1843–1946) — Union Army. Last commissioned Union officer.[40]: 1007 
  • William Sickles (1844–1938) — Union Army. Last Medal of Honor recipient.

Korean Expedition (1871)[]

Spanish–American War (1898)[]

Second Samoan Civil War (1898–99)[]

Banana Wars (1898–1934)[]

Boxer Rebellion (1899–1901)[]

Philippine–American War (1899–1902)[]

20th century[]

Frank Buckles, shown here in this recruitment photo, was the last verified American soldier to have served in World War I.

Border War (1910–1919)[]

  • Samuel Goldberg (1900–2006) — U.S. Cavalry.[52]

World War I (1914–1918)[]

Main article: List of last World War I veterans by country
  • Frank Woodruff Buckles (1901–2011) — U.S. Army. Last U.S. veteran, served with the 1st Fort Riley Casual Detachment.[53]
  • Lloyd Brown (1901–2007) — U.S. Navy. Served on USS New Hampshire.
  • Howard Ramsey (1898–2007) — U.S. Army. Last combat veteran.[54]
  • Albert Wagner (1899–2007) — U.S. Marine Corps. Served in the 6th Marine Regiment[55]
  • Moses Hardy (1894–2006) — U.S. Army. Last African-American veteran.
  • Edouard Izac (1891–1990) — U.S. Navy. Served on USS Florida and USS President Lincoln. Last Medal of Honor recipient.
  • Henry Forster (1889–1989) — Aéronautique Militaire. Last American member of the La Fayette Escadrille.[56]

Pancho Villa Expedition (1916–1917)[]

  • Mark Matthews (1894–2005) — U.S. Army.[57]

Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War (1918–1925)[]

American and other Allied forces were involved in the Polar Bear Expedition which began during World War I and continued into the Russian Civil War

Spanish Civil War (1936–1939)[]

World War II (1939–1945)[]

Main article: List of last surviving veterans of World War II

See also[]

Notes[]

  1. ^ Edward Shames (1922-2021) was the last surviving commissioned officer of Easy Company

References[]

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  3. ^ Belknap, Jeremy; Farmer, John (1831). The History of New Hampshire. Vol. 1. S. C. Stevens and Ela & Wadleigh. p. 209. Retrieved June 25, 2016.
  4. ^ Cotton, Josh (July 22, 2017). "Colonial Intrigue: It's possible that the last surviving veteran of the French & Indian War is buried in Warren". www.timesobserver.com (in American English). The Times Observer. Retrieved July 23, 2018.
  5. ^ The American Almanac and Repository of Useful Knowledge for the Year 1844. Vol. 15. Gray and Bowen. 1843. p. 328. Retrieved November 15, 2018.
  6. ^ Niles' national register, Volume 61. Cambridge: Harvard University. 1841. p. 192.
  7. ^ "The Last Men of the Revolution". americanrevolution.org.
  8. ^ Heitman, Francis Bernard (1982). Historical Register of Officers of the Continental Army During the War of the Revolution, April, 1775, to December, 1783. Genealogical Publishing Com. ISBN 978-0-8063-0176-1.(quoting the Annual Report of the Commissioner of Pensions for 1874: "With the death of Daniel T. Bakeman, of Freedom, Cattaraugus County, N.Y., April 5, 1869, the last of the pensioned soldiers of the Revolution passed away.")
  9. ^ Dalzell, James McCormick; Gray, John (1868). Private Dalzell, his autobiography, poems, and comic war papers, sketch of John Gray, Washington's last soldier, etc. R. Clarke. p. 189.
  10. ^ Franck, Michael S. (1996). Elmwood Endures: History of a Detroit Cemetery. Wayne State University Press. p. 50. ISBN 9780814325919.
  11. ^ Zaniewski, Ann (May 27, 2019). "151 years after death, enslaved Revolutionary War vet honored in Detroit". Detroit Free Press.
  12. ^ Layton, Andrew (June 23, 2019). "African-American Revolutionary War hero's legacy of diversity honored at Detroit gravestone dedication". Defense Visual Information Distribution Service.
  13. ^ Pitts, Jonathan M. (June 21, 2019). "Twice denied the freedom he'd fought for, black Revolutionary War hero from Maryland to be honored at last". Baltimore Sun.
  14. ^ Henderson, Frank D.; Rea, John R.; Dailey, Jane Dowd (1929). The official roster of the soldiers of the American revolution buried in the state of Ohio. F. J. Heering Printing Co. p. 307. Retrieved August 17, 2021.
  15. ^ Longardner, Caroline Wells (June 27, 2021). "Memorial Grave Marking Service for PATRIOT WILLIAM RICHARDSON". The West Bend News. Retrieved August 17, 2021.
  16. ^ "LAST VET OF INDIAN WARS DIES AT AGE 101". Chicago Tribune. June 17, 1973.
  17. ^ Chicago Corral of the Westerners (1965). Westerners brand book, Volumes 22–25. Siedlce. p. 24.
  18. ^ "John Daw". Genealogy Trails. 2006. Retrieved October 20, 2010.
  19. ^ Hopkins, John Christian (March 11, 2006). "129 years after Little Big Horn". Gallup Independent. Archived from the original on October 27, 2010. Retrieved October 18, 2010.
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  21. ^ Oregon Historical Quarterly. Vol. 36 (3 ed.). Oregon Historical Society. 1935. pp. 299–304. JSTOR 20610950.
  22. ^ Pipes, Nellie B. (1939). Oregon Historical Quarterly. Vol. 40 (3 ed.). Oregon Historical Society. pp. 297–301. JSTOR 20611203.
  23. ^ "DEATH OF THE LAST SURVIVOR OF THE BLACK HAWK WAR". Vol. 14. Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society. 1922.
  24. ^ Pierce, Frederick Clifton (1895). Whitney. The descendants of John Whitney, who came from London, England, to Watertown, Massachusetts, in 1635. Press of W. B. Conkey Co. p. 153. Retrieved May 24, 2019.
  25. ^ "Local Intelligence". Intelligencer Journal. August 23, 1870. p. 2. Retrieved December 19, 2019.
  26. ^ Henley, Benjamin James (1911). The art of longevity ... Syracuse: New Warner Co. pp. 205–208.
  27. ^ Evans, Clay Henry (1898). "The Pension Problem". Munsey's Magazine. Vol. 19. Frank A. Munsey & Company. p. 698. Retrieved August 4, 2019.
  28. ^ "Society of the War of 1812". The Colonial Magazine. Vol. 1. Bosworth, Hyde & Hyde. 1895. p. 93. Retrieved August 4, 2019.
  29. ^ "Oldest Ranking Officer". National Tribune. May 23, 1907. p. 6. Retrieved December 19, 2019.
  30. ^ Rosentreter, Roger (2003). Michigan's Early Military Forces. U. of Wayne State P. p. 278. ISBN 0814330819. Retrieved December 19, 2019.
  31. ^ Blake, Robert Bruce. "ZUBER, WILLIAM PHYSICK". Texas State Historical Society. Retrieved August 15, 2012.
  32. ^ "William P. Zuber to Ben. E McCulloch Describing events at San Jacinto". Texas State Library and Archives Commission. Retrieved August 15, 2012.
  33. ^ "Last Survivor of Dorr War". The Boston Globe. December 24, 1922. p. 45. Retrieved April 17, 2020.
  34. ^ "Oldest Voter in State, 101, And 49er, Is Buried". The Hartford Daily Courant. p. 3. Retrieved April 17, 2020.
  35. ^ Bañes, Lanz Christian (2009). "Vallejo author uncovers the story of Bear Flag Revolt hero John Grider". Times-Hearld. Retrieved October 26, 2014.
  36. ^ "Searching for John Grider, an African American Bear Flag Veteran". Blackpast.org. Retrieved October 26, 2014.
  37. ^ Associated Press (September 1929). "Mexican War's Last Survivor, 98, is Dead". The Dallas Morning News.
  38. ^ "Father Time's Roll Call". The American Legion Monthly. Vol. 7, no. 3. Legion Publishing Corporation. 1929. p. 32.
  39. ^ "Next To Last Mexico War Veteran Dead". Reading Times. June 17, 1929. p. 3. Retrieved August 13, 2019.
  40. ^ a b c Hoar, Jay S. (2007). The North's Last Boys in Blue. Vol. 2. Higginson Book Co. ISBN 978-0-7404-5907-8.
  41. ^ Basanik, Michael E. (2003). Cavaliers of the Brush: Quantrill and His Men. Press of the Camp Pope Bookshop. p. 131. ISBN 9781929919048. Retrieved May 23, 2019.
  42. ^ Eakin, Joanne Webb Chiles (1993). Branded as rebels: a list of bushwhackers, guerrillas, partisan rangers, confederates and southern sympathizers from Missouri during the war years. J.C. Eakin & D.R. Hale. p. 48. Retrieved May 23, 2019.
  43. ^ The Banner (1956). "Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War: Albert Woolson". Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War. Retrieved October 20, 2010.
  44. ^ "James A. Hard – Obituary". Binghamton Press, Associated Press. 1953. Retrieved April 21, 2015.
  45. ^ Hoar, Jay S. (2010). The South's Last Boys in Gray. Vol. 3. Higginson Book Co. ISBN 978-0-7404-6751-6.
  46. ^ "JASPER GARRISON, 107, OLDEST U.S. WAR VETERAN". Newspaper. The Chicago Tribune. June 6, 1987. Retrieved May 29, 2019.
  47. ^ de Quesada, Alejandro (2013). Roosevelt's Rough Riders. Bloomsbury Publishing. pp. 9, 43. ISBN 9781846039041. Retrieved May 29, 2019.
  48. ^ Jones, V. C. (1969). "Jesse D. Langdon: Last of the Rough Riders". American Heritage. Vol. 20, no. 5. Retrieved May 29, 2019.
  49. ^ a b "Nathan E. Cook, 106; America's Oldest Known War Veteran". Los Angeles Times. September 12, 1992. Retrieved June 1, 2016.
  50. ^ "Also Served in U.S. Forces in Boxer Rebellion : Spanish-American War Vet Dies at 109". Newspaper. Los Angeles Times. December 8, 1985. Retrieved May 30, 2019.
  51. ^ "Nathan E. Cook, 106;America's Oldest Known War Veteran". Los Angeles Times. September 12, 1992. Retrieved December 8, 2011.
  52. ^ Everett, Will (April 6, 2007). "World War I veteran". PRI's THE WORLD. Retrieved May 19, 2013.
  53. ^ Courson, Paul (February 28, 2011). "Last living U.S. World War I veteran dies". CNN. Retrieved February 28, 2011.
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  55. ^ Kessinger, Mike (April 6, 2017). "Wagner was never one to shy away from talking about his WWI experience". The Hays Daily News. Retrieved July 15, 2019.
  56. ^ Gordon, Dennis (2000). The Lafayette Flying Corps: The American Volunteers in the French Air Service in World War One. Schiffer Military History. p. 169. ISBN 9780764311086.
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  58. ^ Rush, Linda (February 3, 2005). "STATE'S 'LAST' WORLD WAR I VETERAN DIES: WARREN V. HILEMAN DIED SUNDAY IN ANNA AT 103". The Southern: Illinoisan. Retrieved May 19, 2013.
  59. ^ Kramer, Andrew (August 14, 2001). "Centarian Is Last Veteran of Only U.S.-Russia War". The St. Petersburg Times. Retrieved November 26, 2010.
  60. ^ "Del Berg Interviewed by Friends and Neighbors". The Volunteer.
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  63. ^ "Last of the legendary World War II Flying Tigers dies".
  64. ^ "Death of last remaining Flying Tiger pilot stirs fond memories". China Daily.
  65. ^ "Steve Pisanos Dies at 96: Famed Decorated WWII Fighter Pilot". Times of San Diego.
  66. ^ "Joe Langdell dies at 100; survived Pearl Harbor attack on the Arizona". Los Angelas Times.
  67. ^ "Marine survivor of USS Arizona dies at 91". Lubbock Avalanche Journal.
  68. ^ "Lemuel Rodney Custis".
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