Tell
me about your time in the Army.
I
was in the 1887th Aviation Engineer Battalion and did base security.
I went to Pearl Harbor; when I got there the ships were still
smoking from the Japanese attack. Then when I left Pearl Harbor, I
went from island to island. I went to Iwo Jima, Okinawa, Guam,
Palau.... shoot yeah, I saw action. You and I might be sitting here
talking like this and a bullet's liable to hit right here in between
us, and under you and over there..... and two men would've been
killed standing right over there (motioning
with his hand).
All my friends, a bunch of 'em got killed, and I didn't get a
scratch on me. Yeah, I saw some bad stuff.
Like
them trees over there (pointing
across the street),
you couldn't go into them trees at all because there's liable to be
10 Japs in that tree line. So we had three airplanes fly over and
drop bombs. If that didn't do it we'd get three more, and open that
whole space up, 300 yards so you could see everything. Then we would
go through it. That's when you'd have hell 'cause some of 'em are
laying in holes. But you've got to take that tree line. You've got
to go through there shootin' and you don't know where they're at. You
might see some over yonder and you look, and some 'em might be behind
you. Sometimes we'd throw a grenade and kill one or two. Sometimes
they might throw it back at you and you don't have time to shoot 'em,
you ain't even got time to turn around; just throw it back at them.
That's where the danger's at, but it was a lot of fun looking
back.... a lot of fun.
Were
you ever scared?
What
does it matter?
If
it was my time to go, I'm going. If it ain't your time, God ain't
gonna let you go. When I was in the army and people were shootin' at
me, and bullets were flying all over the place.... it wasn't my time!
That's the reason I didn't get hit! I went through all that and I
didn't get a scratch on me. If it ain't your time to go.....
So
you believe in God?
I
got to!
I've always believed in God. That's the One that brought you here.
God's taken care of me my whole life. Man wasn't takin' care of
me....God was! Man ain't helping you, that's God helping you.
So
you think God helped you through all of that.
Man
didn't..... he was the one that sent me out there! (laughs)
Man was the one shootin' at me! Yeah, I believe in God, He's taken
care of me for 109 years. He ain't let me down yet!
Having
gone through the war and being 109 years old, do you ever think about
dying?
I
don't think about dying.....there's nothing you can do about it.
When you go to bed at night, you never know whether you're gonna get
up or not. It don't matter; just go on and go to sleep. I'll die
when my time comes, and I'll be happy as a field lark (laughs).
I'm not worried about it. I ain't scared. You don't know when your
gonna die, and you won't know it when it happens anyway. That's the
reason I say don't worry about it. You're crazy if you worry about
it.
What
do you think happens to us after we die?
I
don't know, I ain't made it that far yet. (laughing)
Do
you have any regrets?
There's
a lot of things in my mind but I never let 'em worry me. Lots of
times I'd say “Oh I should've done this or I should've done that,”
but I don't let that worry me. It don't matter anyway. Just think
of something else and get on with your life. I don't worry about
nothing. Nothing ever hurts me. I'm happy every time I get up in the
morning and I'm happy when I go to bed.
What's
the key to happiness?
I
never let nothing worry me. If you let things worry you, you'll never
get no where. When worry comes on you again and again, that the devil
workin' on you....tryin' to get you. You've got to watch the devil.
God's got to change you. Get on your knees and ask God “Can you
turn me around?”
Were
you ever mistreated because of the color of your skin?
You
know, some people will hate you, but you don't hate everybody. Some
people used to hate blacks....some of 'em still that way. That's
foolish, but I don't care. That don't bother me. I ain't scared of
'em. I ain't worried about 'em. That's their business. They don't
want to treat you good, that's their bad luck. Treat 'em good anyway.
I had people that wouldn't speak to me, some won't speak to you now!
But that ain't your troubles, that's them. They don't want to accept
it, that's their problem.
Always treat people right. Sometimes they won't treat you right back.....treat 'em right anyway. That's the Golden Rule. I don't care who it is, treat 'em all good.
Always treat people right. Sometimes they won't treat you right back.....treat 'em right anyway. That's the Golden Rule. I don't care who it is, treat 'em all good.
How
do you want to be remembered?
I'm
gonna leave it to them. Let 'em make up their own minds. After you're
dead and gone you ain't worried about it, you're going where ever
you're going, hell or heaven or where ever you're supposed to go. I
ain't worried about it. I ain't even worried about what people think
of me now!
What
is the most important thing in life?
Just
keep a livin'. That's the best thing you can do, keep a livin'. Life
is a good thing. It's a good thing to do. It's good. You can't find
nothing any better than life. Tell me what you can find better than
life?
I
haven't found it.
You
ain't gonna find it!
Just
keep livin'. Let God kill you. He brought you here, let Him take you
away. You didn't know when you was comin', you ain't gonna know when
you're goin'. I can't do nothing about it.
Just
keep goin'; that's life. God's the One that put you here. Some
people say, “I wish I could live that long.” Well, ask God. He
might give it to you but you might have to ask Him. You have to ask
things of Him, He's your friend. You ask God, will He take care of
you; He's already doing it! He's taken care of me! I've had a good
life. It's just as sweet as it can be. You've got to have a happy
life.
At age 109, at the time of this interview, Mr. Overton is still in good health and lives in his own home that he bought when he returned from the war in 1945. He still does his own yard work, drives and is known for helping out people in need. As the oldest surviving World War II veteran, he's become somewhat of a celebrity with several videos posted online and his own Wikipedia page. You can learn more about him at the links below. I am honored to have known him. Thank you, Mr. Overton, for your wisdom and your service.
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