At 107 years old , World War II veteran Richard Overton credits God for his longevity . `` If man had it , I 'd have been dead , but God 's got it , and he 's keeping me well , '' said Overton , believed to be the oldest known American veteran of the war . And in his more than century of life , he 's seen both the good and bad . `` He was there at Pearl Harbor when the battle ships were still smoldering . He was there at Okinawa . He was there at Iwo Jima , where he said . ' I only got out of there by the grace of God , ' `` President Obama said Monday during a Veterans Day ceremony at Arlington National Ceremony honoring Overton . Overton volunteered for service in 1942 , becoming a member of the Army 's 188th Aviation Engineer Battalion , an all-black unit that served on various islands in the Pacific . He does n't enjoy thinking or talking about it , telling CNN he `` forgot all that stuff . '' `` When the war ended , Richard headed home to Texas , to a nation bitterly divided by race . And his service on the battlefield was not always matched by the respect that he deserved at home . But this veteran held his head high , '' Obama told the crowd of roughly 4,000 people . Overton visited Washington for the first time earlier this year . His first stop was the World War II Memorial . Then he saw the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial . `` As Richard sat in a wheelchair beneath that great marble statue , he wept . The crowd that gathered around him wept , too , '' Obama said Monday as he described the veteran 's visit . `` To see one of the oldest living veterans of World War II bear witness to a day , to the progress of a nation that he thought might never come . '' Monday 's audience gave Overton two standing ovations for his service . At the end of the day , he spoke to CNN while taking in the World War II Memorial at night . Overton said he was happy to meet the President . `` I did n't think there ( was ) gon na ever be a black president , '' he said , `` but it finally did happen . '' And , while giving credit to God for living well over 100 , Overton says he does n't take any medicine and enjoys his vices . `` I drink whisky in my coffee . Sometimes I drink it straight , '' he said . `` I smoke my cigars , blow the smoke out -- I do n't swallow it . ''
Richard Overton , 107 , volunteered in World War II and went to Pacific islands . President Obama , audience of 4,000 honor Overton at Arlington National Cemetery . Comment: Sometimes I drink it straight ''