RIP: Russell Coffey

J Russell Coffey
1 Sep 1898 - 20 Dec 2007

ZUI this article from Fox News:

The last World War I veteran in Ohio, and one of only three known remaining U.S. veterans of the conflict, has died.

J. Russell Coffey was the last WWI vet in the state, according to the Veterans Affairs Department. He died Thursday at the age of 109, said the Smith-Crates Funeral Home in North Baltimore, about 35 miles south of Toledo.

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Coffey, born Sept. 1, 1898, did not see action overseas. He enlisted in the Army while he was a student at Ohio State University in October 1918, a month before the Allied powers and Germany signed a cease-fire agreement.

According to the Department of Veterans Affairs, the only other known surviving American soldiers from World War I are 106-year-old Frank Buckles, of West Virginia, and 108-year-old Harry Landis, of Florida. (107-year-old John Babcock, the last known Canadian WWI veteran, lives in Washington.) The last US Navy veteran from WW I was Lloyd Brown (d 29 Mar 07), the last USMC vet was Albert Wagner (d 20 Jan 07), and the last female US vet was Charlotte Winters (d 27 Mar 07).

According to Wikipedia (which has more about Coffey, Buckles and Landis), there are now 20 verified WWI veterans still alive.