107-year old Richard Overton (L), sits with fellow centenarian and World War II veteran Elmer Hill as they met for the first time at the Emeritus at Parmer Woods Senior Living Center in Austin, Texas, on December 13, 2013.
107-year old Richard Overton (L), sits with fellow centenarian and World War II veteran Elmer Hill as they met for the first time at the Emeritus at Parmer Woods Senior Living Center in Austin, Texas, on December 13, 2013. REUTERS/Jan Herskovitz

Richard Overton is just 108 years young and is thought to be the oldest living veteran in the United States. On Veteran's Day, Nov. 11, he attended a function at Austin to receive a box of cigars as well as a loud round of applause and appreciation, according to mysanantonio.

But some of the things he does could put people who are half his age to shame. Richard is active, has worked until he was almost 100 and drives his own old Ford truck and a Chevy Monte Carlo. He transports widows to church, and then potters about his yard by himself.

Beginning his day with a tablespoon of whiskey laced into his coffee, he follows it with cigars everyday, according to Washington Post. He is clear that he smokes his cigars, blowing the smoke out without swallowing it.

What is the secret of his longevity and energy? Richard has no clue. He says: "I ain't got nothing to do with that. No, that's God's work. Yeah, but I think I'm gonna make it. I done made it this far, I'm gonna still make it on further," according to Washington Post. However, one key to being so old is also simple: "staying out of trouble."

Born in 1906 at Texas, Richard was in the South Pacific theater from 1942 to 1945 as a member of the all-black 1887th Engineer Aviation Battalion. When he came back from the war, he worked first of all at an Austin furniture store. Although he retired when he was 65, he was called back four times. It was only when he was approaching 100 that he left, even though they still wanted him back. Currently he has beaten Lucy Coffey, the oldest living female, by three days. She had become part of the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps in 1943.

Richard Overton remains in the same house he decided to buy after returning from World War II. He had bought the Austin Fox affiliate for a handsome sum of $4,000. War evokes unhappy memories for Overton. He explains that he enjoyed it after he went and returned, bud did not enjoy it when he was there. He had to do things he did not want to do, he said, in 2013. Last year, he travelled to Washington for Veterans' Day and met President Obama, who mentioned him during an event at Arlington National Cemetery. He had told CNN last year that he did not think that there was ever going to be an African-American President. But it finally did happen.

In May 2013, he had also arrived at the nation with another group that brought Texas veterans to the capital. It included a stop at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial, where Richard broke down, along with the crowd around him. Yet life, to him, is still full of positive energy. "I've gotten so many letters and so many thank yous and I enjoy every bit of it, but I'm still going to enjoy some more," he said, according to Business Insider.