The Associated Press is reporting that the oldest US World War 1 veteran died Thursday at the age of 109. J. Russell Coffey enlisted a month before the war ended in November 1918 and was discharged amonth later. At the time he was disappointed he never got into the fight, but as he grew older he realized it was probably for the best. He did make one comment to his daughter that he "wished people would remember his contributions rather than his old age." He said "even a prune can get old." It does seem like we focus more on his age than anything else, but with his passing, the WW1 generation is getting smaller and smaller. Apparently there are only 2 left of the 4.7 million soldiers and sailors who served.
12/21/2007
