President Obama meets with Emma Didlake, oldest living U.S. veteran

• Share on Facebook
• Share on Twitter
• Share via Email
• Copy Link

  Link Copied

On Friday, President Obama met with the 110-year-old Emma Didlake, who is the oldest living U.S. veteran.

Didlake, who joined the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps in 1943 as a 38-year-old with five children, served as a driver and a private. During her military career, she earned the Women’s Army Corps Service Medal, American Campaign Medal and World War II Victory Medal. Later on in life, after leaving the service, she would go on to march with Martin Luther King, Jr. in 1963, and she joined the Detroit chapter of the NAACP.

After meeting with Didlake, who the president described to reporters as having served with “distinction and honor,” President Obama posted to his Twitter account to praise Didlake and her life of service, saying that she was “110-years-young.”

“We are so grateful that she is here with us today. And it’s a great reminder of not only the sacrifices that the greatest generation made on our behalf, but also the kind of trailblazing that our women veterans made, African-American veterans who helped to integrate our armed services,” Obama said to reporters after meeting with Didlake. “We are very, very proud of them. That’s why we got to make sure we do right by them.”