Lawrence N. Brooks, the oldest World War II veteran in the U.S. — and believed to be the oldest man in the country — died on Wednesday at the age of 112.
"I don’t have no hard feelings toward nobody," he said during ain New Orleans. "I just want everything to be lovely, to come out right. I want people to have fun and enjoy themselves — be happy and not sad."
Originally from Norwood, Louisiana, near Baton Rouge, Brooks' family moved to the Mississippi Delta when he was an infant. He was one of 15 children. He said lived too far from the nearest school for him to attend, so his parents taught him what they could at home. The 91st, where Brooks served, was an Army unit that built bridges, roads and airstrips for planes. Brooks was assigned as a caretaker to three white officers. His job was to cook, drive and take care of their clothes.
During his 2014 oral history interview with the museum, Brooks said the officers he cared for treated him well and he considered himself fortunate not to have to fight in combat. After they dumped the cargo to conserve weight, he made his way to the cockpit. He told the pilot and co-pilot that since they were the only two with parachutes, if they had to jump for it, he was going to grab on to one of them.
"We’d be running like crazy, trying to hide," he said. They had to dig foxholes to protect themselves.When he returned from service, he worked as a forklift driver until retiring in his 60s. He has five children, five stepchildren, and dozens of grandchildren and great-grandchildren. He lost his wife, Leona, shortly after Hurricane Katrina.
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