President Obama Meets With Emma Didlake, Oldest Living U.S. Veteran

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July 20, 2015

By Sam Levine, the Huffington Post

emma_didlake

President Barack Obama met in the Oval Office on Friday with Emma Didlake, a 110-year-old who is the oldest living veteran in the United States.

Didlake, a native of Alabama, joined the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps in 1943 as a 38-year-old with five children, and served as a private and driver. She earned the Women’s Army Corps Service Medal, American Campaign Medal and World War II Victory Medal for her service. After leaving the military, Didlake joined the Detroit chapter of the NAACP, and marched with Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in 1963…

Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Obama said that Didlake served with “distinction and honor.”

“We are so grateful that she is here with us today. And it’s a great reminder of not only the sacrifices that the greatest generation made on our behalf, but also the kind of trailblazing that our women veterans made, African-American veterans who helped to integrate our armed services,” Obama said. “We are very, very proud of them. That’s why we got to make sure we do right by them.”…

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