Meet Richard Overton. He’s America’s longest living World War II veteran, and he also happens to be a badass.
Overton, from Austin, Texas, fought in the 1887th Engineer Aviation Battalion in World War II, and served as a corporal in Hawaii, Guam and Iwo Jima.
He’s 110 – and he credits his long life to smoking cigars and drinking whisky.
In a 2015 documentary for Guns.com, Overton revealed being able to defend himself with firearms is the secret to living long.
And according to NBC News, the 110-year-old’s tips for longevity also include a steady diet of fried catfish and butter pecan ice cream.
Basically, he’s a badass.
Born in May 1906, Overton joined his all-black military unit in 1942, when Franklin D. Roosevelt was president, and became a skilled sharpshooter.
Since the war, he’s outlived two wives, received plenty of honours and even had breakfast with President Obama for his 107th birthday.
But his age isn’t slowing him down. Speaking to NBC earlier this year, Overton said:
I feel good. A little old, but I’m getting around like everybody else.
I don’t think about (dying). You can’t do anything about that. It’s going to come, whether you want it or not. I just think about living.
As for crediting alcohol to a long life, Overton explains that putting whisky in his coffee every morning ‘makes your muscles get warm’. Well, it seems to be working.
What an amazing guy.
