“I’ve got a truck out there and it runs just like I want it, so I just keep it.”
Behind the wheel of a decades-old blue-and-white two-tone Ford pickup, Richard Arvin Overton, the oldest living WWII veteran in America, is confident and clear-eyed. “I like to drive myself because other drivers, they drive crazy!”
An Army veteran, he joined the service in 1940 and fought in the western Pacific from 1944 to 1945. He’s made Austin, Texas, his home his entire life – all 111 years of it.
“If it’s your time to go, that bullet’s gonna getcha,” he says. “If it ain’t your time to go, that bullet’s goin’ over your head. It ain’t gonna hit ya.”
He shared, “I still walk, I still talk and I still drive.”
How does he do it? Among his secrets to longevity are these gems:
- Don’t fool with a credit card. Pay cash.
- Smoking cigars just makes you feel better. But don’t inhale.
- Don’t feed a cat too much; he won’t eat a rat.
- Anytime you wake up – even if it’s 1 or 2 in the morning – just get up.
- If you give up, you’re through!
“I may give out, but I never give up.”
Sources
“109-Year-Old Veteran and His Secrets to Life Will Make You Smile – Short Film Showcase,” YouTube. 2017-04-25. Retrieved 2017-07-10.
Blog posting provided by Society of Certified Senior Advisors
www.csa.us
