{{Short description|American soldier and supercentenarian (1905–2016)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=December 2015}} {{Infobox military person | name = Frank Levingston | image = Oldest known World War II veteran visits Arlington National Cemetery (23295593560) (cropped).jpg | caption = Levingston at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery, 2015 | nickname = | birth_date = {{birth date|1905|11|13}} | birth_place = Cotton Valley, Louisiana, U.S. | death_date = {{death date|2016|5|3}}<br>(aged {{age in years and days|1905|11|13|2016|5|3|}}) | death_place = Shreveport, Louisiana, U.S. | birth_name = Frank Levingston Jr. | allegiance = {{flagu|United States|name=United States of America|1912|size=23px}} | battles = {{tree list}} * World War II ** Allied invasion of Italy ** North African campaign {{tree list/end}} | rank = Private | branch = {{dodseal|War|size=25px}} United States Army | branch_label = Branch | service_years = 1942–1945 }}

'''Frank Levingston Jr.''' (November 13, 1905 &ndash; May 3, 2016) was an American soldier and supercentenarian. At the time of his death, he was the second-oldest verified military veteran in the United States, the oldest living man in the United States, and the oldest verified American veteran of World War II.

== Biography == Levingston was born on November 13, 1905, in Cotton Valley, Louisiana, to Frank and Ida Levingston, and was raised a Methodist. He was the fourth of seven children. As a child, he helped operate his family's 200-acre farm. He received little formal education and his parents died when he was young.<ref name=":4" /> Levingston enlisted in the United States Army on October 6, 1942.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=5 May 2016 |title=Oldest US World War II Vet Passes Away at 110 |url=https://abcnews.go.com/US/oldest-us-world-war-ii-vet-passes-110/story?id=38897993 |access-date=2025-09-28 |website=ABC News |language=en}}</ref> A private, he served as a truck technician in the Allied invasion of Italy and the North African campaign.<ref name=":4" /><ref name=":2">{{Cite web |title=HLS 16RS-3883 |url=https://www.legis.la.gov/Legis/ViewDocument.aspx?d=1000613 |access-date=2025-09-28}}</ref><ref name=":1" /> After receiving an honorable discharge in 1945, he became a cement finisher for a labor union in San Diego.<ref name=":4" /><ref name=":1">{{Cite web |date=2016-05-07 |title=Man Believed to Be Oldest U.S. Veteran Dies at 110 |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/frank-levingston-believed-be-oldest-u-s-veteran-dies-110-n569781 |access-date=2025-09-29 |website=NBC News |language=en}}</ref>

In the 1950s, Levingston converted to Islam, though still held ties to Methodism and visited both churches and mosques.<ref name=":4" />

In 2015, on his 110th birthday, Levingston received a congratulatory letter from the White House. On December 7, 2015 – the 74th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor – he and other veterans visited Washington, D.C. with the Honor Flight non-profit, with him laying a wreath on the World War II Memorial.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" />

On August 16, 2015, Levingston became the oldest recognized living military veteran in the United States, following the death of Emma Didlake.<ref name="D">{{Cite web |date=December 6, 2015 |title=110-year-old World War II vet gets Washington D.C. trip |url=http://www.cbsnews.com/news/110-year-old-world-war-ii-vet-gets-washington-d-c-trip |access-date=December 23, 2015 |work=CBS News}}</ref> He called himself "one of the blessed ones" to be the oldest.<ref name="A">{{Cite web |author=Schuppe, Jon |date=November 11, 2015 |title=Frank Levingston, America's Oldest Veteran, 109, Says He's 'Blessed' |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/frank-levingston-americas-oldest-veteran-109-says-hes-blessed-n461486 |access-date=December 23, 2015 |work=NBC News}}</ref> By then, according to his nephew, he was healthy and required no medication.<ref name=":3">{{Cite news |last=Dyer |first=Brandon |date=2015-12-17 |title=Oldest known living World War II vet visits Tomb of the Unknowns |url=https://www.army.mil/article/160160/oldest_known_living_world_war_ii_vet_visits_tomb_of_the_unknowns |access-date=2025-09-29 |website=United States Army |language=en}}</ref> He became the oldest living American man on April 19, 2016, following the death of fellow Louisiana resident Felix Simoneaux Jr. (born May 24, 1905).<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Nation's Oldest Man Dies A Month Shy Of 111th Birthday|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/the-nations-oldest-man-dies-a-month-shy-of-111th-birthday_us_5717a7a3e4b06f35cb715f5b|work=The Huffington Post|date=April 20, 2016|access-date=April 21, 2016}}</ref>

Levingston never married and has no children, though he helped his extended family. He retired {{Circa|1981}} and lived alone, in his home in Lake Charles, Louisiana,<ref name=":4" /><ref name="A" /><ref name="D" /><ref>{{Cite web |date=2016-05-04 |title=Veteran Frank Levingston, oldest man in the United States, dies at age 110 |url=https://www.nydailynews.com/2016/05/04/veteran-frank-levingston-oldest-man-in-the-united-states-dies-at-age-110/ |access-date=2025-09-28 |website=New York Daily News |language=en-US}}</ref> until about April 2016, when his family moved him into a nursing home.<ref name=":1" /> He died on May 3, 2016, aged 110, in a hospital in Shreveport.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Bowerman |first=Mary |date=6 May 2016 |title=America's oldest WWII vet dies at 110 |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2016/05/06/oldest-living-usa-world-war-ii-veteran-passes-away-110-frank-levingston/84015376/ |access-date=2025-09-29 |website=USA Today |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=":4">{{Cite news |last=Hagerty |first=James R. |date=2016-05-14 |title=Frank Levingston Was Celebrated as a U.S. Army Hero |url=http://www.wsj.com/articles/frank-levingston-was-celebrated-as-a-u-s-army-hero-1463187346 |access-date=2025-09-29 |work=Wall Street Journal |language=en-US |issn=0099-9660}}</ref> His funeral was held in Cotton Grove.<ref name=":0" /> His death was consoled in a session of the Louisiana House of Representatives.<ref name=":2" />

==References== {{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Levingston, Frank}} Category:1905 births Category:2016 deaths Category:United States Army personnel of World War II Category:African-American centenarians Category:American men centenarians Category:American supercentenarians Category:Men supercentenarians Category:People from Lake Charles, Louisiana Category:People from Cotton Valley, Louisiana Category:Military personnel from Louisiana Category:United States Army soldiers Category:20th-century African-American people