New Orleans (AP) -Laurence N. Brooks, the oldest WWII veteran in the United States-and believed to be the oldest man in the United States-died Wednesday at the age of 112. rice field.
His death was announced by the National Museum of World War II and confirmed by his daughter.
Most African-Americans who served in isolated U.S. forces at the beginning of World War II were assigned to non-combatants and were entrusted with service operations such as supply, maintenance, and transportation, education and access. Colonel Pete Clean, vice president in charge, said. Museum in New Orleans.
“The reason was complete racism-there is no other way to characterize it,” Clean said.
But Brooks, born September 12, 1909, was known for his friendly sense of humor, positiveness, and kindness. When asked about the secrets of a long life, he often said, “Serving God and being kind to people.”
“I don’t have a strong feeling for anyone,” he said. 2014 Oral History Interview With a museum. “I just want everything to be nice and come out right. I want people to have fun and have fun — not happy and sad.”
On a sunny day, Brooks was known to sit on the front porch of a double shotgun house shared with his daughter Vanessa Looks in the Central City district of New Orleans. Neighbors called out to local celebrities and waved their hands to bring soda and light meals.
Brooks New Orleans Saints Football Team And he never missed the game, his daughter said. His church, the Anglican Church of St. Luke, was also close to his heart, and he did not miss Sunday worship until the coronavirus pandemic.
A Brooks family from Norwood, Louisiana, near Baton Rouge, moved to the Mississippi Delta at an early age. He was one of 15 children and was too far from the nearest school, so his parents taught him what he could do at home.
Brooks worked at a sawmill when it was drafted by the US military in 1940. After Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor, he was assigned to the 91st Engineer Regiment, mostly black, stationed in Australia.
Later in the war, with the defeat of the army, the army began to effectively place more African-American troops in combat positions. In 1941, less than 4,000 African-Americans were in the army. By 1945, that number had grown to more than 1.2 million.
The 91st Corps served by Brooks was an Army unit that built bridges, roads, and runways for planes. Brooks was assigned as the caretaker of three white officers. His job was to cook, drive and care for their clothes.
Brooks rarely spoke publicly about the discrimination he and other black soldiers faced in the war and the discrimination faced by his family at Jim Crow Deep South, the daughter said.
Clean, who became acquainted with Brooks and his family through his work at the museum, talked about how Brooks realized how good he was treated as a black man in Australia compared to the United States. Cleanly said he thought it would offend him, so he refused to do so. In an interview with his oral history, Brooks said he was lucky that the officers he took care of treated him well and he didn’t have to fight in combat.
“I’m lucky.” If I’m going to shoot someone, someone will shoot me, and he may be lucky enough to be beaten, “I told myself,” he said. Told.
He often talked about a passenger on a C-47 aircraft, carrying a barbed wire forward when one of the engines of a transport plane broke.
He headed to the cockpit after they dumped the cargo to save weight. He told the pilot and co-pilot that only two people had parachutes, so if they needed to jump, they would grab one of them.
“But we did that,” he said in a 2014 oral history interview, laughing. “We laughed a lot about it.”
Although not in combat, Brooks experienced enemy bombardment during the war. He said the Japanese would sometimes bomb Owen Island, where he worked. He said he learned to understand the difference in the sound of Japanese, American and German planes approaching.
“We will be running crazy and trying to hide,” he said. They had to dig a fox hole to protect themselves.
He was discharged from the Army as a senior soldier in August 1945.
When he returned from service, he worked as a forklift driver until he retired 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.
The 2005 disaster destroyed his home. Then, in the late 90’s, he evacuated from the roof of his house by helicopter. His daughter described him as “elastic.”
“He has experienced a lot. He’s really tough and that’s one of the things I’ve learned from him. If nothing else, he tells me,” Do your best, you It doesn’t make sense to worry about anything you can’t do, “she told AP. “That’s why I think he’s lived as long as he has.”
From his 105th birthday, the museum began to hold him an annual birthday party. His favorite part of the celebration was to see Victory Belles, a trio playing music from the 1940s. During the 2020 and 2021 coronavirus outbreaks, the museum held a parade in front of his house with a brass band and a crew of Zulu warriors in full regalia.
“Even at the age of 112, Mr Brooks stood up a bit and danced,” Clean said.
World War II oldest U.S. veteran Laurence N. Brooks dies at 112
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