Howdy y’all,
Today I would like to look back upon the life of Frank Levingston.
Who is Frank Levingston you ask?
Frank Levingston was the oldest living American and he was also the oldest living WWII veteran.
This article is late but though I have been following this man for the last several years, I just heard about him passing away a few days ago.
Mr. Levingston was born on 13 Nov 1905 in Cotton Valley, Louisiana and died on 3 May 2016 in Bossier Parish, Louisiana having aged 110 years, 172 days.
1905 is the year Einstein brought the world his theory of relativity or what you know as E=mc2. It is also the year that Teddy Roosevelt was beginning his first term and the year the Wright brothers flew for 30 minutes.
Mr. Levingston was one of seven Children and he enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1942.
Mr. Levingston took part in the Allied Invasion of Italy between the end of 1943 until the beginning of 1944.
Frank Levingston spent the rest of his life until he retired being a concrete finisher.
He never married and had no children.
Upon the death of Frank Levingston, the title of the Oldest WWII veteran passed to Richard Arvine Overton who has has a bit more notoriety due to his love of cigars and whiskey and because there has been a documentary made about him.
Overton was born on 11 May 1906 in Bastrop County, Texas. He is a distant relative of president Andrew “Old Hickory” Jackson.
He enlisted in the Military on 3 September 1942 at Fort Sam Houston, Texas and served primarily in the South Pacific including stops in Hawaii, Guam, Palau and Iwo Jima. Though he reached the rank of Sergeant in the US Army, he left in October 1945 as a Corporal.
When Mr. Overton broke off from the military, he worked in furniture stores before taking a position with the Texas Department of the Treasury.
I first learned about Mr. Overton in 2013 when they featured him on Fox News during memorial Day weekend and he told them his means of celebration was cigars and whiskey-laced coffee.
Mr. Overton is the subject of a documentary titled… Mr. Overton.
He is currently running on the film festival circuit. When he is not spending time at his place in Austin, Texas.
I was not able to meet Mr. Levingston but I hope before I go overseas, I will be able to be in the same room as this man, he just seems like being around him would be a pretty good time.
And 110 years worth of stories.
Chop's Guide to the Galaxy 