Last Living Veterans of America's Wars

Info Please ^ | March 6, 2005

[BulletBobCo]

Last Living Veterans of America's Wars

American Revolution (1775–1783)

Last veteran, Daniel F. Bakeman, died 4/5/1869, age 109
Last widow, Catherine S. Damon, died 11/11/06, age 92
Last dependent, Phoebe M. Palmeter, died 4/25/11, age 90

War of 1812 (1812–1815)

Last veteran, Hiram Cronk, died 5/13/05, age 105
Last widow, Carolina King, died 6/28/36, age unknown
Last dependent, Esther A. H. Morgan, died 3/12/46, age 89

Indian Wars (c. 1861–1898)

Last veteran, Fredrak Fraske, died 6/18/73, age 101

Mexican War (1846–1848)

Last veteran, Owen Thomas Edgar, died 9/3/29, age 98
Last widow, Lena James Theobald, died 6/20/63, age 89
Last dependent, Jesse G. Bivens, died 11/1/62, age 94

Civil War (1861–1865)

Last Union veteran, Albert Woolson, died 8/2/56, age 109
Last Confederate veteran, John Salling*, died 3/16/58, age 112

Spanish-American War (1898)

Last veteran, Nathan E. Cook, died 9/10/92, age 106

[BulletBobCo]

Anyone know how many WWI vets are alive?

[mdittmar]

No,honor them all.

[Celtjew Libertarian]

According to this page, there were 44 American WW1 vets surviving, as of Veterans' Day 2003.

[IndyTiger]

From a 2003 article: "Department of Veterans Affairs says fewer than 500 U.S. veterans of World War I remain alive; their average age is 101."

Probably down to about 200 or so now. My grandpa was a WWI marine aviator who passed on in 1970.

[Springman]

Bump for later.

[hedgie]

(Word Version)

 May 2001 

American Revolution (1775-1783)
Total Servicemembers	217,000
Battle Deaths	4,435
Non-mortal Woundings	6,188
Last Veteran, Daniel F. Bakeman,     died 4/5/1869, age 109
Last Widow, Catherine S. Damon,      died 11/11/06, age 92
Last Dependent, Phoebe M. Palmeter,   died 4/25/11, age 90

War of 1812 (1812-1815)
Total Servicemembers	286,730
Battle Deaths	2,260
Non-mortal Woundings	4,505
Last Veteran, Hiram Cronk,  died 5/13/05, age 105
Last Widow, Carolina King,     died 6/28/36, age unknown
Last Dependent, Esther A.H. Morgan,     died 3/12/46, age 89

Indian Wars (approx. 1817-1898)
Total Servicemembers	106,000*
Battle Deaths	1,000*
Last Veteran, Fredrak Fraske,     died 6/18/73, age 101

Mexican War (1846-1848)
Total Servicemembers	78,718
Battle Deaths	1,733
Other Deaths in Service	11,550
Non-mortal Woundings	4,152
Last Veteran, Owen Thomas Edgar,    died 9/3/29, age 98
Last Widow, Lena James Theobald,     died 6/20/63, age 89
Last Dependent, Jesse G. Bivens,    died 11/1/62, age 94

Civil War (1861-1865)
Total Servicemembers (Union)	2,213,363
Battle Deaths (Union)	140,414
Other Deaths in Service (Union)	224,097
Non-mortal Woundings (Union)	281,881
Total Servicemembers (Conf.)	1,050,000
Battle Deaths (Confederate)	74,524
Other Deaths in Service (Confederate)	59,297**
Non-mortal Woundings (Confederate)	Unknown
Last Union Veteran, Albert Woolson     died 8/2/56, age 109
Last Confederate Veteran, John Salling     died 3/16/58, age 112

Spanish-American War (1898-1902)
Total Servicemembers (Worldwide)	306,760
Battle Deaths	385
Other Deaths in Service (Non-Theater)	2,061
Non-mortal Woundings	1,662
Last veteran, Nathan E. Cook,     died 9/10/92, age 106

World War I (1917-1918)
Total Servicemembers (Worldwide)	4,734,991
Battle Deaths	53,402
Other Deaths in Service (Non-Theater)	63,114
Non-mortal Woundings	204,002
Living Veterans	2,503*

World War II (1940 –1945)
Total Servicemembers (Worldwide)	16,112,566
Battle Deaths	291,557
Other Deaths in Service (Non-Theater)	113,842
Non-mortal Woundings	671,846
Living Veterans	5,451,378*

Korean War (1950-1953)
Total Servicemenbers (Worldwide)	5,720,000
Battle Deaths	33,686
Other Deaths (In Theater)	2,830
Other Deaths in Service (Non-Theater)	17,730
Non-mortal Woundings	103,284
Living Veterans	3,913,749*

Vietnam War (1964-1975)
Total Servicemembers (Worldwide)	9,200,000
Deployed to Southeast Asia	3,100,000
Battle Deaths	47,410
Other Deaths (In Theater)	10,788
Other Deaths in Service (Non-Theater) est.	32,000
Non-mortal Woundings	153,303
Living Veterans	8,300,106*

Gulf War (1990-1991)
Total Servicemembers (Worldwide)	2,322,332
Deployed to Gulf	1,136,658
Battle Deaths	148
Other Deaths (In Theater)	235
Other Deaths in Service (Non-Theater)	914
Non-mortal Woundings	467
Living Veteran	1,753,530

America's Wars Total
Military Service During War	42,348,460
Battle Deaths	650,954
Other Deaths in Service (In Theater)	13,853
Other Deaths in Service (Non-Theater)	229,661
Non-mortal Woundings	1,431,290
Living War Veterans	19,421,266*
Living Veterans	25,497,691*

Veterans and Dependents on the
Compensation and Pension Rolls as of

May, 2001

	VETERANS	CHILDREN		PARENTS	SURVIVING SPOUSES
Civil War	-	12		-	1
Indian Wars	-	1		-	-
Spanish-American War	-	245		-	386
Mexican Border	9	25		-	181
World War I	144	5,810		1	25,573
World War II	647,205	18,707		1,388	272,793
Korean Conflict	249,515	4,110		1,496	63,579
Vietnam Era	851,143	13,465		6,118	114,514
Gulf War***	344,174	8,508		338	6,261
TOTAL  WARTIME	2,092,190	50,883		9,341	483,288
Nonservice-connected	352,761	27,221		-	230,194
Service-connected	2,306,731	30,757		11,650	288,661
TOTAL	2,659,492	57,978		11,650	518,855

---

>NOTE:  Figures on the number of living veterans are projected from the final 1990 Census data and include only veterans living in the U.S and Puerto Rico.  Periods of service used in Census data may differ slightly from those of DoD.  Although Gulf War figures are shown for the peak 1990-1991 period, the Gulf War period has not yet been officially terminated.

Source:  Department of Defense, unless otherwise indicated.

“Other deaths in Service” is the number of servicemembers who died while on active duty, other than those attributable to combat, regardless of the location or cause of death.

* VA estimate

** An estimated figure does not include 26,000 to 31,000 who died in Union prisons.

***For VA benefits purposes, the Gulf War period of service remains open-ended and also includes those discharged from 1991 to date.

---

It is estimated that the number of living World War I veterans will be:

9/30/01............ 2,212                  9/30/07.................. 171                  9/30/13.................... 12

9/30/02............ 1,452                  9/30/08.................. 110                  9/30/14..................... 7

9/30/03............... 952                  9/30/09................... 71                  9/30/15..................... 4

9/30/04............... 623                  9/30/10................... 46                  9/30/16..................... 3

9/30/05................ 407                  9/30/11................... 29                  9/30/17..................... 2

9/30/06................ 265                  9/30/12................... 19                  9/30/18..................... 1

 

It is estimated that the number of living World War II veterans will be:

9/30/01............. 5,032,591                  9/30/08................ 2,383,578                  9/30/15................. 724,947

9/30/02............. 4,618,560                  9/30/09................ 2,074,699                  9/30/16................. 583,410

9/30/03............. 4,211,991                  9/30/10................ 1,788,795                  9/30/17................. 463,088

9/30/04............. 3,815,644                  9/30/11................ 1,526,903                  9/30/18................. 362,282

9/30/05............. 3,432,216                  9/30/12................ 1,289,627                  9/30/19................. 279,113

9/30/06............. 3,064,236                  9/30/13................ 1,077,141                  9/30/20................. 211,584

9/30/07............. 2,714,009                  9/30/14................... 889,152                                                         

 

 

 

 

[jocon307]

The "oldest living confederat widow" died just last year, didn't she? She'd married a really old guy, when she was really young.

[BulletBobCo]

Her name was Albert Martin. Her story is here...
http://lastconfederatewidow.com/
There are some freeper posting last year on her.

[GaryL]

Did you know that General Longstreet at the age of, I believe, 88, married a young woman in her twenties, who lived into the 1950's?

As I like to tell my son, who, like me, is a big Civil War enthusiast, since I was born in 1949, I could actually have met General Longstreet's wife!

[Churchillspirit]

I believe veterans of WW11 are dying at the rate of more than 1000 per day.

God bless 'em all.

[vetvetdoug]

In my town there is a son of a Confederate veteran whose father served with my GGGF in his squad. My GGGF was his Sgt. in the 7th Mississippi Cavalry, C.S.A. The last Confederate widow in Mississippi died in 1987 has two surviving sons. She lived about four miles from here.

[Jaysun]

Anyone know how many WWI vets are alive?

I know there's about 10 Brits still hanging on, don't know about the Americans.

You might be interested to know that the last widow of a Civil War veteran lived until Memorial Day last year in Montgomery, AL. We donated to her funeral fund, but we didn't get to go. Her son is still alive. Isn't that strange? There's a guy that can honestly say, "My Dad fought in the Civil War" still alive today! Here's a little article and a link to a longer one:

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) -- Three days of tributes to Alberta Martin, the last widow of a Civil War veteran, began yesterday with her body lying in repose at the First White House of the Confederacy as re-enactors in gray uniforms stood guard.

Republican Gov. Bob Riley, first in the line of mourners, placed a wreath of magnolias beside her wooden casket. A Confederate battle flag covered the casket, as Mrs. Martin had requested.

"When you think we are in 2004 and the last widow of a Confederate veteran has just deceased, it's quite remarkable," Mr. Riley said.

Mrs. Martin died May 31, nearly 140 years after the Civil War ended. She was 97. The last widow of a Union veteran, Gertrude Janeway, died last year in Tennessee at 93.

Mrs. Martin was born in southern Alabama to a poor sharecropper's family. She was a 21-year-old widow with a young child when she met and married 81-year-old William Jasper Martin in 1927. He served as a private in the 4th Alabama Infantry Regiment in the Civil War and died in 1932.

Alberta Martin lived in obscurity and poverty until the Sons of Confederate Veterans learned of her past in 1996. Members of the group started taking her to conventions, and she became a belle of Civil War history buffs.

Mrs. Martin's body will lie in repose through tonight at the First White House of the Confederacy, where Jefferson Davis lived in 1861 before the Confederate capital moved to Richmond.

Mrs. Martin's funeral is scheduled for tomorrow in Elba, with burial nearby in an 1860s-style ceremony with artillery and musket fire.
longer, more detailed article

[Jaysun]

GASP! I didn't read all of the other post referring to the last Civil War widow until after I'd posted mine. Sorry.

[CIB-173RDABN]

Back when I watched M*A*S*H I thought the best showed they ever did was when Col. Potter was a member of a tontine. He and his buddies saved a bottle of brandy to be opened by the last surviving member. Col. Potter is that member, and when the bottle arrives, he puts on his old uniform and has a drink for the "friends of my youth"..."

Some days, I will pause, and think back to the "friends of my youth", the ones that have gone before me.

I guess as long as someone remembers us, we are never really gone...

[hillyes]

Brig.Gen.Simon B.Buckner,Jt.-KIA,Okinawa,WW2. Son of Lt.Gen.Simon B.Buckner,CSA

[stevem]

Anyone know how many WWI vets are alive?

Lots.

[jocon307]

No, that was good! I'd forgotten much of the details, you re-capped it really well.

[GaryL]

Wow! That's incredible!

[19th LA Inf]

He and his buddies saved a bottle of brandy to be opened by the last surviving member

I believe Doolittle's Tokyo raiders have this arrangement. Each of the 80 was presented a silver cup, and these are kept in a case with the brandy. When the man passes his cup is inverted in the case.

Some didn't survive the war. I expect well over half are gone now. Jimmy himself made it to 96.

[Professional Engineer]

ping