John Painter
WWI: Earned top medal in France, lived to be 112.
Associated Press
CELINA, Tenn. - A man thought to be the nation's oldest veteran, whose
military service during World War 1 took him from the hills of Tennessee to
the front lines of France, died Thursday. He was 112. (my note: Thursday
would have been Mar 1, 2001)
John Painter, who rode horses as a soldier in Europe and shod them as a
blacksmith in America, died of a heart attack at his home in Hermitage
Springs, in north-central Tennessee.
Painter was believed to have been the nation's oldest veteran, according to
the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
"He served his country with great distinction. He was a very patriotic
American," said Wendell Gilert, commissioner of Tennessee's Department of
Veterans Affairs.
Painter was given France's Order of the Legion of Honor - that country's
highest honor - for his World War 1 service.
The governor last year declared Painter's 112th birthday as "John Painter
Day" in Tennessee. The veteran received more than 500 birthday cards that
year for VA employees across the nation who heard about the milestone over
the Internet.
A representative of the Bush administration was expected to attend Sunday's
funeral, along with Gilbert and members of both Tennessee's congressional
delegation and General Assembly. Gov. Don Sundquist also may attend.
Painter was born Sept. 20, 1888 in Jackson County, where he grew up working
as a blacksmith and farmer.
In 1917, he joined the Army with his brother and went to France, where his
enlistment included leading horse-driven ammunition wagons to the front lines
of combat.
(there is a picture of Mr. Painter taken in Nashville on Memorial Day 1998)