Last surviving United States war veterans

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 edit

American Indian Wars (1622–1774) edit

18th century edit

French and Indian War (1754–1763) edit

  • 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) edit

 
A photograph of Daniel Frederick Bakeman (1759–1869). Though not mentioned in the 1864 book The Last Men of the Revolution, he was the last surviving veteran of the American Revolution to have been granted a pension.

American Indian Wars (1775–1924) edit

Shays' Rebellion (1786–1787) edit

Whiskey Rebellion (1791–1794) edit

19th century edit

War of 1812 (1812–1815) edit

 
Hiram Cronk (1800–1905), the last surviving veteran of the War of 1812.

Toledo War (1835–1836) edit

  • 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) edit

Dorr Rebellion (1841–1842) edit

Bear Flag Revolt (1846) edit

Mexican–American War (1846–1848) edit

 
Owen Thomas Edgar (1831–1929), the last surviving U.S. veteran of the Mexican–American War.

Bleeding Kansas (1854–1861) edit

American Civil War (1861–1865) edit

Korean Expedition (1871) edit

Spanish–American War (1898) edit

Second Samoan Civil War (1898–99) edit

Banana Wars (1898–1934) edit

Boxer Rebellion (1899–1901) edit

Philippine–American War (1899–1902) edit

20th century edit

Border War (1910–1919) edit

  • Samuel Goldberg (1900–2006) — U.S. Cavalry.[53]

World War I (1914–1918) edit

 
Frank Buckles (1901–2011), shown here in this recruitment photo, was the last verified American soldier to have served in World War I.

Pancho Villa Expedition (1916–1917) edit

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

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) edit

World War II (1939–1945) edit

 
Richard E. Cole (1915–2019), shown second-from-right in this 1942 photograph, was a World War II veteran and the last living participant of the Doolittle Raid.

Korean War (1950–1953) edit

See also edit

Notes edit

  1. ^ Conter, an enlisted U.S. Navy sailor, is the last survivor of the sinking of the USS Arizona. The last survivor of the ship's Marine Detachment was Lamar Crawford (1920–2011).[64] The last surviving commissioned officer was Joseph Langdell (1914–2015).[65]
  2. ^ Williams was also the last surviving Marine recipient. The last surviving Army Medal of Honor recipient was Charles Coolidge (1921–2021). Coolidge was also the last surviving recipient who had been awarded the medal during the war.[67]
  3. ^ Freeman was an enlisted soldier. The last surviving commissioned officer of Easy Company was Edward Shames (1922–2021).

References edit

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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. 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. ^ 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.")
  8. ^ 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.
  9. ^ Franck, Michael S. (1996). Elmwood Endures: History of a Detroit Cemetery. Wayne State University Press. p. 50. ISBN 9780814325919.
  10. ^ Zaniewski, Ann (May 27, 2019). "151 years after death, enslaved Revolutionary War vet honored in Detroit". Detroit Free Press.
  11. ^ Layton, Andrew (June 23, 2019). "African-American Revolutionary War hero's legacy of diversity honored at Detroit gravestone dedication". Defense Visual Information Distribution Service.
  12. ^ 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.
  13. ^ 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.
  14. ^ Longardner, Caroline Wells (June 27, 2021). "Memorial Grave Marking Service for PATRIOT WILLIAM RICHARDSON". The West Bend News. Retrieved August 17, 2021.
  15. ^ William Richardson Find a grave
  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.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
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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.
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  28. ^ "Society of the War of 1812". The Colonial Magazine. Vol. 1. Bosworth, Hyde & Hyde. 1895. p. 93. Retrieved August 4, 2019.
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  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-Herald. Retrieved October 26, 2014.
  36. ^ "Searching for John Grider, an African American Bear Flag Veteran". Blackpast.org. April 20, 2010. 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.
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  47. ^ "JASPER GARRISON, 107, OLDEST U.S. WAR VETERAN". Newspaper. The Chicago Tribune. June 6, 1987. Retrieved May 29, 2019.
  48. ^ de Quesada, Alejandro (2013). Roosevelt's Rough Riders. Bloomsbury Publishing. pp. 9, 43. ISBN 9781846039041. Retrieved May 29, 2019.
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  50. ^ a b "Nathan E. Cook, 106; America's Oldest Known War Veteran". Los Angeles Times. September 12, 1992. Retrieved June 1, 2016.
  51. ^ "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.
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  66. ^ Scott, Andrea (June 29, 2022). "Last surviving WW2 Medal of Honor recipient Woody Williams dies at 98". Marine Corps Times. Retrieved June 30, 2022.
  67. ^ Goldstein, Richard (April 7, 2021). "Charles Coolidge, Oldest Medal of Honor Recipient, Dies at 99". New York Times. Retrieved December 20, 2021.
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  72. ^ "Lemuel Rodney Custis". January 19, 2021.
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  74. ^ Smith, Harrison (November 30, 2022). "Hiroshi Miyamura, Medal of Honor recipient from Korean War, dies at 97". The Washington Post. Retrieved January 5, 2023.