Meet Richard Overton: He’s America’s Oldest Veteran and He Turned 110 Today

America’s oldest veteran Richard Overton celebrated his 110th birthday with family and friends on Wednesday, saying “I don’t think about dying… I just think about living.” Maybe that’s the secret recipe to long life.

Richard Overton, America's oldest living veteran, celebrates his 110th birthday. https://t.co/GDHaqHIe1i pic.twitter.com/t20oZjuj93

— NBC Nightly News (@NBCNightlyNews) May 11, 2016

NBC News has the story:

Overton, of Austin, Texas, fought in the 1887th Engineer Aviation Battalion in World War II, and served as a corporal in Hawaii, Guam and Iwo Jima.

“I feel good. A little old, but I’m getting around like everybody else,” Overton told NBC News on Wednesday by phone from the same Austin house he’s lived in since he returned from the war. He paid $4,000 for it.

His tips for longevity are far from traditional: He chain-smokes cigars, insists on a splash of whiskey in his morning coffee, and enjoys a steady diet of fried catfish and butter pecan ice cream, he told TODAY two years ago.

Read more here.

While Overton has been surrounded by the spotlight in recent years receiving media attention, awards, and visits from politicians, it never fazes him.

After meeting former Gov. Rick Perry on his 106th birthday he said of Perry, “He’s human, ain’t he?”

You can watch their meeting here. Overton has also met President Barack Obama when he had breakfast at the White House 3 years ago. (For more from the author of “Meet Richard Overton: He’s America’s Oldest Veteran and He Turned 110 Today” please click HERE)

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