AUSTIN, TX (RNN) - Richard Overton, who is the oldest living U.S. veteran of World War II, is celebrating his 111th birthday at the home where he has lived for 72 years. City officials have proclaimed that Hamilton Avenue, where his home is located, will be given the honorary name of Richard Overton Avenue effective on Thursday, May 11, according to the Austin Statesman.
He will have two birthday parties, one at the University of Texas and the other in his neighborhood, where a big crowd is expected.
Overton, born in 1916 in Bastrop County, served in the Pacific Theater with the U.S. Army in the all-black 1887th Engineer Aviation Battalion from 1942 to 1945.
He still smokes cigars - six, seven or more a day - but he says he doesn't inhale. He's learned to appreciate the little pleasures in life, like fried catfish, gravy, corn, hamburgers and mac and cheese, he told the Statesman.
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