Talk:Last surviving United States war veterans

Samuel Downing
The link for Samuel Downing is incorrect (it leads to someone else). I don't know how to fix it, otherwise I would. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 107.194.145.201 (talk) 12:34, 20 October 2012 (UTC)

Hiram Cronk
The death date given for Hiram Cronk on this page doesn't match the one on his own page. Does anyone know which is right? FZ 15:56, 15 Jul 2004 (UTC)

WW I
I saw recently that there are only around 30 surviving WWI vets. Can someone get their names and list them here? --Rogerd June 28, 2005 16:25 (UTC)

Try this:
It lists all surviving WWI veterans grouped by country.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surviving_Veterans_of_the_First_World_War

JMD4LSU 21:12, 2 December 2005 (UTC)

WTF
Indian Wars

* Fredrak Fraske (c.1872-1973) maybe someone go research that or something.

Census Matches
Census matches can be found at www.ancestry.com. Discussion of cases can be found at several sites, including the World's Oldest People Yahoo Webgroup.→ R Young {yak ł talk } 11:31, 16 September 2006 (UTC)

William J Bush
In fact, however, Bush did add years to his age, and apparently for the very purpose of filing a false claim. In 1880 he gave his age as 30, suggesting a birthdate of 1850 and an age of 14 or 15 when the Civil War ended. Had he really been born in 1844 or 1846 it would have been very difficult for him to escape conscription long enough to serve in the obscure, last-ditch militia organization that he claimed to have fought fought with; such local units were the favorite choices of late Confederate impostors, since there were usually no surviving records to disprove their claims. (unsigned edit)

In fact, however, census years often vary. For one, your interpretation is INCORRECT. Confederate pensions were not offered until the 1930's, so if Bush added years to his age, the motivation was not for 'filing a false claim.' Second, the name William Bush is fairly common and how do we know the alleged census listing you found is the correct one. Third, Albert Woolson was really born in 1850, so that does not prove someone is/was too young to serve. Perhaps you'd like to present evidence on the 'talk' page (i.e. here) before making such insinuations.→ R Young {yak ł talk } 21:19, 30 September 2006 (UTC)

Circa vs. ?
"Circa" means 'about' and should only be used with those cases where the birthdate is a 'best guess.' ? means the age claimed is called into question, and is the more appropriate marker, at least for the more controversial cases like Salling and Lundy.→ R Young {yak ł talk } 01:38, 21 November 2006 (UTC)

Last surviving veteran
Last surviving veteran relinks here, which I find quite odd, as I don't believe this site to be for Americans, but for English speaking people, and not just first language. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 81.233.248.218 (talk) 09:44, 6 December 2006 (UTC).

Are there any survivors of the Mexican Incursion against Pancho Villa (1916-7)? If not, when did the last veteran of this conflict die?Fmlondon 21:18, 11 November 2007 (UTC)

John Redhawk born January 12, 1898 died January 16, 2014 age 116 years and 4 days. He is the last known war veteran of the Mexican Incursion. He was an Indian scout with the U.S. Calvary.
 * Got a source for that? Czolgolz (talk) 12:49, 14 October 2015 (UTC)

Are there any survivors of the Russian Invasion of 1918-20)? I know there were two or three branches of this expedition, and that the last "Polar Bear" veteran died in 2003, but of the other contingent(s), are there any survivors?  If not, when did the last one die?Fmlondon 21:18, 11 November 2007 (UTC)

I note we need something on Charlie Smith (or at least his claims) as the last surviving veteran of the US Civl War at age of some 130 years in the 1970s. -- Infrogmation 02:30, 23 December 2006 (UTC)


 * Why are the examples limited to wars within the Americas? The title makes no such limitation, and would include Vietnam, Iraq, etc.

Are the Oldest-Old or Final Few notable?
Greetings, User Brown-Haired Girl has waged a campaign to wipe out the entire 'supercentenarians' field on Wikipedia. This has included:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Categories_for_discussion/Log/2007_November_1#Category:Supercentenarian_trackers

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Articles_for_deletion/Robert_Young_%28longevity_claims_researcher%29

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Epstein_%28supercentenarian_tracker%29

And, even, a man dead over 100 years:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Thoms

I find it incredulous that one would attack even the man who invented the term 'folklore' and started the field of 'supercentenarian tracking.'

Such mass hysteria seems to be working. User BHG is one of the top-10 editors by edit count on Wikipedia and has lots of friends. I can't imagine most WWI veteran articles surviving if this trend continues. I do urge everyone who considers tracking the oldest-old, whether WWI vets or no, to chime in on these debates.

Sincerely, Robert Young Ryoung122 16:42, 9 November 2007 (UTC) Ryoung122 16:44, 9 November 2007 (UTC)

National Geographic article
As a kid, back in the 1970s, I saw a National Geographic article entitled "The Last of Washington's Army" or some such. It had a few photos of the old men who were the last known (at that time of research) vets of the Revolutionary War. Anybody else seen it?? They guys would have been drummer boys I assume. ALso, fwiw, I'm thinking Gray is in fact the last documentable vet...Engr105th (talk) 08:32, 14 January 2008 (UTC)

Mackenzie-Papineau vets from the Spanish Civil War
Why is a member of the Mac-Paps listed? They were officially designated as a Canadian contingent, was the volunteer himself an American citizen? It was common for volunteers to join the batallions and brigades of other countries (many members of the Lincoln Brigade for example were from other countries, incl. Canada the same was true with the Mac-Paps). I was just curious. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 99.241.55.244 (talk) 02:00, 18 November 2009 (UTC)


 * If you took the time to read the source given, it would say so. Also he is an American, thus why he is listed here & helping with the Mac-Paps. That-Vela-Fella (talk) 21:40, 20 November 2009 (UTC)

Union vet
Israel A. Broadsword died on July 25, 1952 according to here http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3468301977.html. It says that he was one of the last four living Union veterans living. Can we add him? --Nick Ornstein (talk) 01:25, 15 February 2010 (UTC)

Polar Bear Expedition?
Is this section a joke? Added by an anon IP on August 20. No sources. HiLo48 (talk) 04:10, 5 September 2010 (UTC)


 * Three weeks. No answer. It's gone. HiLo48 (talk) 05:14, 27 September 2010 (UTC)

Merger proposal
 no merge. User:NickOrnstein removed the merge tag off the article, so presumably the discussion is now closed. Skeezix1000 (talk) 14:02, 26 November 2010 (UTC) The article List of last surviving Canadian war veterans should be merged with Last surviving United States war veterans so that future articles related to this content don't choose to make a surviving veteran list titled by a country. In other words, we don't need to have 'last surviving veterans per country' articles. It would make more sense to rename the article to "Last North American veterans by war". Similar to Last European veterans by war - choosing a continent rather than a country. There are 7 continents as opposed to over 200 countries.

So for future purposes, for example, if there are a few survivors known in particular battles in Africa, they can be all together, rather than for example "List of last Zimbabwean war veterans". By keeping a continent, it will include more veterans and battles - more of a variety. --Nick Ornstein (talk) 22:56, 19 October 2010 (UTC)
 * I guess I'm not sure what the problem is with having separate lists for separate countries. We have many country lists on Wikipedia, and they don't present any problems.  If it can meet the requirements of WP:V and WP:OR, I don't see why "List of last Zimbabwean war veterans" would be a horrible thing.  We should be merging articles and lists because it makes sense to do so in the context of those particular articles and lists, in light of applicable Wikipedia policies and guidelines, not as a proactive measure to discourage other articles and lists.  Given that Canada's military history probably has more in common with Britain's than that of the United States, and doesn't have that much in common with Mexico's whatsover, the proposed merger sounds like a solution in search of a problem.  I'm open to being persuaded, but it doesn't sound like the merge is necessary.--Skeezix1000 (talk) 00:13, 8 November 2010 (UTC)
 * We already have "Last European war veterans", it already contains all countries, why not the same for North American veterans? A lot of countries don't go well in Last Euro vets per war, probably in your personal opinion, but it is better mergin. Due to there being less little articles, and more big.


 * With the templates, it is not like all of the countries are all in one template. We have to be conservative with the number of "Longevity" template. Imagine, for example, in 2 years there are 30 articles by country. It would be very tight fitting all of these articles on the "Longevity" template. It looks more superior by continent, having (if possible) 6 articles (representing continents excluding Antarctica) as opposed to tons and tons of surviving veterans by country. --Nick Ornstein (talk) 21:55, 8 November 2010 (UTC)
 * If the mere fact that there is one list for Europe is the most compelling argument for the proposed merge, i.e. OTHERSTUFFEXISTS-type reasoning, then I'm not particularly convinced this merge makes a lot of sense. As for the template, if other lists materialize, and if the longevity template becomes too big, they'll create a separate template for war veterans. Easily done.  It happens all the time.  In any event, templates exist to serve articles and lists, not the other way around. For these reasons, I've come around to Oppose.  --Skeezix1000 (talk) 18:25, 10 November 2010 (UTC)


 * Comment I don't think the US page should have been renamed. If this is a merger, the US page should have remained where it was, and a new page with new history started at the North America title. As is, the history of this page will now show a distinct break in topic. 76.66.203.138 (talk) 07:17, 9 November 2010 (UTC)
 * I've moved the list back to its original United States title. To be fair to Nick, he moved it before anyone here commented in opposition to the merge.  However, no aspect of the merge should be implemented until there is consensus here in favour of the proposed merge. --Skeezix1000 (talk) 18:25, 10 November 2010 (UTC)
 * Just wondering but you didnt revert the other changes he did to the article did you. He made a bunch of other noncententious improvement that I think shoudl stay. --Kumioko (talk) 18:27, 10 November 2010 (UTC)
 * No, just removed the Canadian entries, which can easily be restored verbatim should there be consensus in favour of the merge. Any other changes he made are still there.  --Skeezix1000 (talk) 18:57, 10 November 2010 (UTC)


 * Oppose - I think we need to leave this as United States for a couple reasons. First I think there are more than enough people in them to have their own standalone lists. If there were only a couple in each I would agree but there arent. Second, with the Euopean union having a European lists is much the same as the states falling into the United States. Third is you intention to add Mexico into this list as well? I do think that we need to clarify Last surviving though, last surviving is a bit vague. Is i the last one, he last 5, the last 10? From Each war or just in general? --Kumioko (talk) 12:00, 9 November 2010 (UTC)
 * What did you mean by "Is i the last one, he last 5, the last 10? From Each war or just in general?"? --Nick Ornstein (talk) 00:35, 10 November 2010 (UTC)
 * Just in general I think that the last means literally the last one. If we are going to list the list 5 then we should say something like that. I just think the title is too vague. --Kumioko (talk) 18:21, 10 November 2010 (UTC)


 * Comment - The proponent initiated overlapping AfD, move and merge discussions for this list, all with the same objective of merging the article. The AfD is closed, and editors who contributed to the move discussion have been directed here, but the comments at the move discussion can be seen at Talk:List of last surviving Canadian war veterans.--Skeezix1000 (talk) 17:24, 11 November 2010 (UTC)
 * Oppose - the two are seperate nations that are both likely notable in their standalone forms., and while have had many relationships, there has been no meaningful overlap of political or geographic boundaries in the past 100 years or so. Contrast South Korea and North Korea, or the former USSR.Cander0000 (talk) 04:10, 12 November 2010 (UTC)
 * Comment/Oppose - The original proposition that Last surviving North American war veterans was where Mexico, USA, and Canada were going to be consolidated to. Canada should NOT be in the United States article, just like Mexico should not be in the Canadian article.  - Pmedema (talk) 19:24, 12 November 2010 (UTC)
 * I presumed that the intent of the proposal is to consolidate into a North American list, not to incorporate Canadian entries into a U.S. list. In fact, as explained above, the proponent had already move the U.S. list to a North American name. --Skeezix1000 (talk) 20:31, 12 November 2010 (UTC)
 * As such, a move was not necessary but a new article with the merged ones put together and redirects on the original articles. - Pmedema (talk) 01:40, 13 November 2010 (UTC)
 * Agreed. I think that's been covered, but more clarification for a confusing process is always good.Skeezix1000 (talk) 17:58, 13 November 2010 (UTC)

Last North American veterans by war listed at Redirects for discussion
An editor has asked for a discussion to address the redirect Last North American veterans by war. Since you had some involvement with the Last North American veterans by war redirect, you might want to participate in the redirect discussion (if you have not already done so). 76.66.194.212 (talk) 07:00, 26 November 2010 (UTC)

Last Civil War veterans in each state
This is a list that is suppose to be composed the last veterans born in each state in both the Union and Confederacy that I have found. If the current state was a territory at the time of the war, I tried to add the latest death of a service member in one of the area's regiments or who died in that state. There may still be some other veterans that have eluded me so if you have something later than these put it up. I got most of the information from here: http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=wu.89062265145;page=root;view=1up;size=100;seq=19;orient=0. The * next to some veteran's names indicates that they were not born in the state.

Last WWI veteran from each state
Similar to the Civil war list, this is a list that is comprised of the last WWI veteran born in each state.


 * Very impressive. Seems like an article in itself. Czolgolz (talk) 13:10, 28 October 2014 (UTC)

Last Female Civil War Combat veteran.
Jennie Hodgers AKA Albert Cashier was the last known wounded female combat veteran who served with the 95th Illinois Infantry. She was born December 25, 1943 and died October 10, 1915. Her sex was discovered after she was wounded. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2601:D:A500:2A1:D9A3:E136:21C2:9B97 (talk) 23:17, 15 February 2015 (UTC)


 * This is completely unsourced/unreferenced and certainly birth/death dates are wrong. Reference(s) required. David J Johnson (talk) 23:31, 15 February 2015 (UTC)


 * I haven't really looked into who the last female veteran was but almost immediately I found Elizabeth A. Niles (1844 - Sept. 13, 1920) who joined the 4th New Jersey Infantry with her husband. Considering that there were only ~400 female soldiers in the Civil War, this doesn't sound too bad. I also did a quick search on the last of the 3,000-8,000 Civil War Nurses and found Georgia W. Kennedy (1841 - Dec 25, 1943), a former slave who was a nurse in a Confederate Hospital Unit and Alice Cary Farmer (1847 - May 10, 1939), a volunteer nurse for the Union forces occupying New Orleans. Lemunz (talk) 01:34, 16 March 2015 (UTC)

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Last Civil War Colored Troops
Does anyone have any second sources on last surviving USCT soldiers? Perry Vaughn (see 1947 Wisconsin article) is the oldest I can find so far.

1940 PA

1942 Delmarva

1947 Wisc, died 1949 - https://www.newspapers.com/image/520625310/?match=1&article=458d2c8d-a10d-452e-abfd-d7f497e9857c jengod (talk) 21:29, 20 August 2023 (UTC)