moses hardy moses hardy january december age surviving black veteran world war surviving american veterans war son slaves hardy born lived religious farming life signed serve overseas world war july served segregated infantry assigned variety manual labor support tasks hardy served scout supplying line troops necessary hardy experience combat seriously injured rarely discussed experiences concerning fighting instead preferred stories food bravery soldiers weather france war took variety jobs including school bus driver farmer salesman performed past 100th birthday received victory medal special medal adopted resolution recognizing outstanding citizen mississippi time death age recognized oldest combat veteran oldest male recorded mississippi second oldest man world war veteran world early life hardy born mississippi hardy parents born 1840s slaves civil war purchased acres km2 land mississippi native american dollar hardy family deeply religious moses later exodus instructed honor parents favorite bible passage lived hardy married woman end having children military career hardy service france lasted july july included thirty combat days african american served segregated army unit commanded white officers unit purpose provide support engineer regiments infantry unit equipped fight necessary unit focused mainly tasks unloading cargo ships performed manual labor tasks cooking organizing hardy outfit armed solely rifles instead standard issue machine guns war hardy division responsible cleaning removing dead hardy admitted family scared death arrived overseas believed soldiers fed brave referred brave pills short time military claimed afraid experienced heat battle hardy professed wound times frightened recalled strange experiences food drink getting drinking green water eating found surprisingly filling little small chicken occasionally coffee drink pie hardy witnessed friends killed action relied faith god toughest times hardy acted scout help bring supplies troops line september present gas attack point war received injury knee hardy rarely spoke fighting preferred talk france weather asked experiences overseas years received victory medal medal honourable discharge received leaving army years old adopted resolution recognizing outstanding citizen mississippi time known oldest living world war veteran del discovered interviewed radio tribute surviving world war veterans hosted speak son years old time recalled stories father told hardy serve world war instead drove school bus farmed sold lucky heart retirement reportedly continued door door years past centenary phone sales children hid keys chevrolet youngest children born late 1940s served superintendent sunday school class years son claimed years died father healthy drive car town day hardy longevity credited daily meal consisted corn bread butter milk potatoes fact drank alcohol smoked life years death claimed hardy seriously ill day life took medicine sick hardy lived legs weakened found impossible walk placed rest home able feed pass days watching price right time death oldest united_states combat veteran oldest male recorded mississippi children reported dozen grandchildren great grandchildren ranked sixth oldest living verified person world second oldest man world war veteran del african american suffered mild later years reported completely final days death attributed natural causes
Moses Hardy