Ozarks Life: Bolivar WWII veteran is the only son of a Civil War soldier still alive

Ozark Life ^ | June 14, 2024 | Bill Plien

[Macho MAGA Man]

What an incredible story. God speed to this fellow 🙏

[thinden]

Bttt

[kiryandil]

4 minutes

Ozarks Life: Bolivar WWII veteran is the only son of a Civil War soldier still alive
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULNcaHrDxiA

[Flavious_Maximus]

“...Charles was 80 when Bill was born...”

That’s even more remarkable. Good genes run in the family.

[Macho MAGA Man]

Indeed it does!

[JSM_Liberty]

According to this page there is also one daughter of a Union veteran still alive

https://suvcw.org/real-sons-and-daughters

[ProtectOurFreedom]

A good friend of mine from college was from Bolivar. What a cool claim-to-fame for a small town.

[telescope115]

I wonder what Charles’ secret was. One could make a fortune today…

[ProtectOurFreedom]

Ya gotta wonder about the “mechanics” at age 80.

[higgmeister]

If our tenth President, John Tyler, could have had two grandsons still alive in our time, one is still alive, then this lady could most certainly have had a grandfather who fought in the Civil War.   Most people would not believe that I had a great grandfather who fought in the Civil War but that's true too.

[Dalberg-Acton]

When a reporter asked how he was able to make love to his 38 year old wife at his advanced age, he said he had one of his sons help him on and then 3 of is sons to take him off.

The reporter asked why it only took one son to put him on, but 3 to take him off, he said “I fight like hell!”

[desertsolitaire]

In the Clive Cussler novel ‘Raise the Titanic, one of the plot twists noted that at the time (late 1970’s), there were still over 50 women alive drawing US Civil War widow pensions. It mentioned that it was not uncommon for elderly Civil war veterans to marry very young women, thus securing these ladies pensions upon the soldiers’ deaths. This at a rime before Social Security or much of any social safety net benefits for the poor.

[chajin]

Most people would not believe that I had a great grandfather who fought in the Civil War but that's true too.

Me too. Great-granddad was one of four brothers, older ones CSA, younger ones USA (he was one of the youngers). Had grandma when he was in his fifties, she had Dad when she was in her late forties (his oldest brother was 16yo when Dad was born), Dad was 30 when I was born, and I'm 70.

[DIRTYSECRET]

A civil war widow died recently. Young teenager married him during the depression-1930’s. She was poor and he was old.

[mairdie]

I can still remember being a child in Chicago and reading in the Chicago Tribune about the last Union and Confederate soldiers marching in the parade. And then the next time only the Confederate soldier marched and there were jokes about the Confederacy finally winning the war.

In Lee’s Last Retreat: The Flight to Appomattox, historian William Marvel identified Private Pleasant Riggs Crump, of Talladega County, Alabama, who died December 31, 1951, as the last confirmed surviving veteran of the Confederate States Army.

I’ve since read that the stories of that time were wrong and he was outlived by a Union soldier.

None of my Civil War soldier ancestors lived past 1922.

[Dr. Franklin]

Ya gotta wonder about the “mechanics” at age 80.

Law students learn about the possibility of the "fertile octagenerian" when studying the rule against perpetuities. Sure enough when I did my genealogy, I found one. In his will he left his young son only his bed while leaving the rest of his estate to his nephew. The clear implication of that will was that his nephew was expected to adopt his orphaned young cousin, which appears to have happened. Some who don't want to accept that an ocatagenerian had a healthy child question that interpretation of that will, but its quite clear to me what happened.

[Dr. Franklin]

If our tenth President, John Tyler, could have had two grandsons still alive in our time, one is still alive, then this lady could most certainly have had a grandfather who fought in the Civil War. Most people would not believe that I had a great grandfather who fought in the Civil War but that's true too.

I was trying to discern the age of these ladies. I assume its still impolite to ask.

[chajin]

Also FWIW my great-great-granddad on my mother’s side landed in Philadelphia from Ireland in 1860, immediately joined the army (union of course), which seems to be something common among the Irish immigrants. His daughter and daughter’s daughter (b.1903) were candypackers, her daughter married the Okie and had me.

[wardaddy]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_Americans_in_the_American_Civil_War

[x]

Sixth West Virginia Volunteers

Union soldier. Usually it was Confederate veterans who married younger women and passed on their pensions. It looks like Bill’s father married a young woman with four children whose husband abandoned her. He was 71, she was 27, and they had five more children.