According to the US Department of Veterans Affairs, it is estimated that around 389,000 of the 16 million Americans who served in World War II were still alive in 2020. This means that less than 3% of the total number of World War II veterans from the United States are still living.
Today, fewer than 389,000 of the 16 million Americans who fought during World War II remain.
The last combat veteran was Claude Choules, who served in the British Royal Navy (and later the Royal Australian Navy) and died 5 May 2011, aged 110. The last veteran who served in the trenches was Harry Patch (British Army), who died on 25 July 2009, aged 111.
The number of living Australian Second World War veterans has halved since 2019. According to a study by family search website Ancestry and YouGov, 7800 remain.
The Last WWII Veteran on Active Duty Served for Nearly 55 Years After the War. Dr. Earl Russell Fox spent most of his life in and around the military. The son of an Army officer, he was born in an Army hospital in 1919.
Private First Class Charles Havlat (November 4, 1910 – May 7, 1945) is recognized as being the last United States Army soldier to be killed in combat in the European Theater of Operations during World War II.
He was in fact, only 13 years old. SAN ANTONIO — On this Veteran's Day we are honoring the youngest living World War II veteran. Like many Americans, Bob Kelso signed up to fight in World War Two. But - he was only 13 years old.
Almost one million Australians served during the War. Remarkably, some 12,000 Second World War veterans are still with us today.
Navy Veteran Calvin Leon Graham became the youngest World War II soldier at the age of 12, and the youngest recipient of the Purple Heart and Bronze Star. During World War II, it was not unusual for American boys to lie about their age in order to enlist.
Alec Campbell became the last Anzac in June 2001, following the death of Gallipoli veteran Roy Longmore in Melbourne, at the age of 106.
Sir Adrian Carton de Wiart was a one-eyed, one-handed war hero who fought in three major conflicts across six decades, surviving plane crashes and PoW camps. His story is like something out of a Boy's Own comic. Carton de Wiart served in the Boer War, World War One and World War Two.
The era ended May 7, 1975, by order of President Gerald Ford. During the 11-year campaign, approximately 2.7 million American men and woman served; of those, 58,220 died and 153,000 were wounded. Today, there are fewer than 850,000 living Vietnam War veterans, many of whom who are eligible for VA benefits.
This is because most of the German soldiers who fought in the war were conscripts, and many of them were killed or captured. Today, the German government estimates that there are fewer than 100,000 surviving World War II veterans in the country.
Only one former Australian WWI veteran now remains alive. Wireless operator John Campbell Ross, 106, of Bendigo in Victoria, enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force in February 1918 but the war ended before he saw active service.
About 4,200,000 Germans died, and about 1,972,000 Japanese died. In all, the scale of human losses during World War II was vast. A table that details estimated deaths by country is available here.
Frank Woodruff Buckles (born Wood Buckles, February 1, 1901 – February 27, 2011) was a United States Army corporal and the last surviving American military veteran of World War I.
Calvin Leon Graham (April 3, 1930 – November 6, 1992) was the youngest U.S. serviceman to serve and fight during World War II. Following the attack on Pearl Harbor, he enlisted in the United States Navy from Houston, Texas on August 15, 1942, at the age of 12.
In 1942, Seaman Calvin Graham was decorated for valor in battle.
Obituary. Lawrence Nathaniel “Honey” Brooks, the oldest known US WWII veteran at age 112, was born on September 12, 1909, in Norwood, LA.
It was reported that Private Richard Williams, of the 51st Battalion, committed suicide by leaping off the troopship upon which he was returning home. An Australian artillery battery preparing to move in support of the Fourth Army's advance in October 1918.
28 September 1939
The first Australian to be killed in action was probably Wing Commander Ivan McLeod Cameron, who was serving with Britain's Royal Air Force (RAF) at the outbreak of war.
According to the First World War page on the Australian War Memorial website from a population of fewer than five million, 416,809 men enlisted, of which over 60,000 were killed and 156,000 wounded, gassed, or taken prisoner. The latest figure for those killed is given as 62,000.
Today, Vietnam Veterans range in age from 61 to 103 years old.