Oldest War Vet, 112, Is Victim of Identity Theft

A few years ago we wrote about America's oldest living WWII veteran, Richard Overton, who turned a stunning 112 years old this past May, and his gun collection from the Second World War—and every year around this time we check in on him and see what the cigar-chomping, whiskey sipping vet is up to.

Sadly, according to this story from stripes.com, it has been reported that someone has stolen Overton's identity and emptied his bank account.

Overton, who lives in Austin, Texas, learned that his personal bank account had been drained on Friday, in the story.

"Someone set up a bogus account, got his Social Security number and accessed his personal checking account," said Volma Overton, who is Overton's third cousin in the story. "This is going to be a setback for Richard," Volma said. "It was a significant amount of money."

According to Volma, whoever accessed the money used it to buy savings bonds with Treasury Direct, and has been doing so for a few months. One stroke of luck is the account was not connected to Overton's GoFundMe page, which finances his 24/7 in-home care, the story says.

Since it was launched in December 2016, the page has raised more than $320,000, but a large portion of that has already been used for his care.

Overton, who was born in 1906, is not only the oldest veteran, but the oldest man in the U.S., verified by the Gerontology Research Group.

From the story:

When the weather is nice, Overton sits on his front porch. His friends call it his "stage." He'll hum with the birds, snoop on his neighbors and wave at honking cars. Best of all, it's where he smokes most of his 12 daily cigars, and sometimes drinks his favorite drink, a whiskey and Coke.