Emma Didlake

{{Short description|American supercentenarian and military personnel (1904–2015)}} {{Infobox military person |name = Emma Didlake |image = |caption = |birth_date = {{birth date|1904|3|13}} |birth_place = Boligee, Alabama, U.S. |death_date = {{death date|2015|8|16}}<br>(aged {{age in years and days|1904|3|13|2015|8|16|}}) |death_place = West Bloomfield Township, Michigan, U.S. |allegiance = {{flagu|United States|name=United States of America|1912|size=23px}} |branch = {{dodseal|War|size=25px}} United States Army |unit = Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps |rank = Private |awards=23px|border American Campaign Medal<br/>23px|border Women's Army Corps Service Medal<br/>23px|border World War II Victory Medal }}

'''Emma Didlake''' (March 13, 1904 – August 16, 2015) was an African-American supercentenarian.{{refn|name=NYT|{{Cite news |date=August 17, 2015 |title=Woman Believed to Be Nation's Oldest Veteran Dies at Age 111 |work=The New York Times}}}} She served in the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps.<ref name="auto">{{Cite web |title=VFW Magazine June/July 2015 Page 44 |url=http://digitaledition.qwinc.com/publication/?i=256808&p=46 |access-date=2015-09-16}}</ref>

==Early life and education== Didlake was born in Boligee, Alabama, in 1904.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2015-08-17 |title=White House Hosts 111-Year-Old World War II Veteran |url=https://abcnews.go.com/US/white-house-hosts-110-year-world-war-ii/story?id=32524704 |website=ABC News |access-date=2015-09-10}}</ref>

At a young age, Didlake and her family moved to Kentucky, where she married a coal miner in 1922 and later stayed to raise her own family.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Oldest living veteran is a 110-year-old black woman |website=New York Daily News |url=http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/oldest-living-veteran-111-year-old-black-woman-article-1.2296064 |access-date=2015-09-16}}</ref><ref name="auto"/>

==Career== In 1943, when she was 38 years old and the mother of five children, Didlake enlisted in the WAAC. She told the ''San Antonio Express-News'' that she joined the Army because she "wanted to do different things."<ref name="auto"/> She served stateside as a private and a driver.

For her service in World War II, Didlake earned the Women's Army Corps Service Medal, American Campaign Medal, and World War II Victory Medal.<ref>{{Cite web |title=President Obama Meets With Emma Didlake, Oldest Living U.S. Veteran |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/obama-emma-didlake_55aa661fe4b0d2ded39f2cdd |website=The Huffington Post |date=18 July 2015 |access-date=2015-09-16}}</ref>

==After service== After leaving the service, Didlake and her family moved to Detroit, Michigan, where she lived until her death. Soon after moving to Detroit, Didlake joined the local NAACP chapter. In 1963, she marched alongside Martin Luther King Jr. at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.{{citation needed|date=March 2018}}

In 2013, Didlake was awarded the James Weldon Johnson lifetime achievement award at Detroit NAACP's 58th annual Freedom Fund Dinner.<ref>{{Cite web |title=110-year-old veteran, and Alabama native, to meet Obama |date=16 July 2015 |url=http://www.al.com/news/index.ssf/2015/07/emma_didlake_110-year-old_vete.html |access-date=2015-09-16}}</ref>

On July 17, 2015, at 111 years old, Didlake visited Washington, D.C., on an honorary trip that included meeting President Barack Obama and touring several historic monuments, including the Women in Military Service for America Memorial at Arlington National Cemetery, where she received mementos from retired Brigadier General Wilma Vaught. The trip was organized and funded by Talons Out Honor Flight, a division of the Honor Flight Network.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Honoring Our Nation's Oldest Veteran, Emma Didlake |work=Talons Out Honor Flight |url=http://talonsouthonorflight.org/honoring-our-nations-oldest-veteran-emma-didlake |access-date=2015-09-16 |archive-date=2018-10-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181015152958/http://talonsouthonorflight.org/honoring-our-nations-oldest-veteran-emma-didlake/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>

At their meeting in the Oval Office, Didlake sat in her wheelchair in the same spot where foreign leaders sit when they meet the president in the White House.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Emma Didlake: Army driver in the Second World War who met Barack Obama as the United States' oldest known veteran |website=Independent.co.uk |date=3 September 2015 |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/emma-didlake-army-driver-in-the-second-world-war-who-met-barack-obama-as-the-united-states-oldest-known-veteran-10485416.html |access-date=2015-09-16}}</ref> President Obama praised Didlake for her "trailblazing" service as one of the female and African American veterans who helped to integrate the U.S. Army.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Oldest living veteran is a 110-year-old black woman |website=New York Daily News |date=17 July 2015 |url=http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/oldest-living-veteran-110-year-old-black-woman-article-1.2296064 |access-date=2015-09-16}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=110-Year-old veteran Emma Didlake honored by President Obama |website=MSNBC |date=18 July 2015 |url=http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/110-year-old-veteran-emma-didlake-honored-president-obama |access-date=2015-09-16}}</ref>

Didlake attributed her longevity to a diet with a great deal of fruits and vegetables. Each day, she would also eat golden raisins that she had soaked in vodka overnight.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Oldest living veteran is a 111-year-old black woman |website=New York Daily News |url=http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/oldest-living-veteran-111-year-old-black-woman-article-1.2296064 |access-date=2015-09-16}}</ref>

==Death and legacy== About a month after visiting the White House, Didlake fell ill. She died on August 16, 2015, at 111 years old. She is survived by her grandchildren and great-grandchildren.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Oldest known U.S. veteran Emma Didlake dies |url=http://www.cnn.com/2015/08/18/politics/veteran-dies-month-after-meeting-obama/index.html |website=CNN |date=18 August 2015 |access-date=2015-09-16}}</ref>

On August 19, President Obama issued the following statement to honor Didlake's death:

<blockquote>Emma Didlake served her country with distinction and honor, a true trailblazer for generations of Americans who have sacrificed so much for their country. I was humbled and grateful to welcome Emma to the White House last month, and Michelle and I send our deepest condolences to Emma's family, friends, and everyone she inspired over her long and quintessentially American life.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Emma Didlake, America's oldest known veteran, dies at 111 |url=http://mashable.com/2015/08/17/emma-didlake-oldest-vet-dies |website=Mashable |date=17 August 2015 |access-date=2015-09-16}}</ref></blockquote>

With Didlake's death, the oldest known veteran (World War II) became Frank Levingston.<ref>{{Cite web |title=America's oldest known veteran, Emma Didlake, dies at 110 |work=MySA |date=17 August 2015 |url=http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/us-world/article/America-s-oldest-known-veteran-dies-at-110-6448731.php |access-date=2015-09-16 |last1=Christenson |first1=By Sig }}</ref>

==Awards and decorations== {| style="margin:1em auto; text-align:center;" |{{Ribbon devices|number=0|type=award-star|ribbon=Women's Army Corps Service Medal ribbon.svg|width=106}} |{{Ribbon devices|number=0|type=service-star|ribbon=American Campaign Medal ribbon.svg|width=106}} |{{Ribbon devices|number=0|type=service-star|ribbon=World War II Victory Medal ribbon.svg|width=106}} |- |} {| class="wikitable" style="margin:1em auto; text-align:center;" |- |- |Women's Army Corps Service Medal |American Campaign Medal |World War II Victory Medal |- |}

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== *{{Find a Grave|154609503}} {{Commons category-inline|Emma Didlake}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Didlake, Emma}} Category:1904 births Category:2015 deaths Category:Activists from Detroit Category:People from Boligee, Alabama Category:Women's Army Corps soldiers Category:African-American centenarians Category:American women centenarians Category:American supercentenarians Category:Military personnel from Alabama Category:Military personnel from Kentucky Category:American civil rights activists Category:NAACP activists Category:Women supercentenarians Category:20th-century American military personnel Category:20th-century African-American women Category:20th-century African-American military personnel Category:21st-century American women Category:American women human rights activists