At 107, Richard Overton is the oldest known living veteran of World War II, and he credits his daily whiskey for getting him there:
Veterans Day will be bit different for Richard Overton. The man believed to be the nation’s oldest living veteran spends most days smoking cigars and enjoying his whiskey. But today? He’s spending Veterans Day with President Obama.
Overton, 107, enjoys up to 12 cigars a day and likes to enjoy his morning coffee with a little whiskey, a beverage he credits in part with his long, healthy life. The Austin, Texas, resident still drives, walks without a cane and regularly attends church. He said he was taken aback when he got the invitation to the White House.
“The president wants me to come to him!” Overton said. “I’m surprised he called me.” On the day’s agenda: Breakfast with the president and vice president, and then attending the wreath-laying ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery.
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Born in Texas in 1906, Overton didn’t join the Army until he was in his mid-30s, according to the General Land Office. He served in the South Pacific from 1942 to ’45, including tours in Hawaii, Guam, Palau and Iwo Jima. Once he left the service, he sold furniture and worked for the state treasurer’s office in Austin.
He has been interviewed over the years and earlier this yeartoldFox News that he made time each day for smoking cigars and drinking whiskey-stiffened coffee. (Be sure to check out the Fox story, as they have side-by-side pictures of the young, handsome Overton in his uniform, and how he looks today. Still handsome!)
Overton credits the whiskey for helping to keep his muscles loose and limber. Among his other health habits:
Overton stays busy with gardening and yard work and skips television, and he believes his cigar habit helps to alleviate stress. He has a girlfriend too. She’s in her 90s.
“Whiskey’s a good medicine,” he told Fox News. “It keeps your muscles tender.”
No word on whether Overton was able to get whiskey in his White House coffee this morning, I mean you really don’t want to mess with what works, do you?
