Richard Arvin Overton, America's oldest World War 2 veteran, died on Thursday from pneumonia, CNBC news reported on Friday.Born on May 11 1906, he was 112 years old.
He served in the Pacific Theater with the Army's segregated 1887th Engineer Aviation Battalion from 1942 to 1945.He held a series of jobs in the military, including burial detail, base security and driver.
Known and well liked in his home state of Texas, he often joked that cigar smoking and whisky drinking aided him in living such a long life, he was said to smoke more than 12 cigars a day and lace his morning coffee with whisky.