Obama meets Detroit woman believed to be oldest veteran
Jul 17, 2015, 3:18 PM
President Barack Obama meets with Emma Didlake, 110, of Detroit, the oldest known World War II veteran, Friday, July 17, 2015, in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
(AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama opened the Oval Office to a 110-year-old Detroit woman believed to be the nation’s oldest veteran.
Obama says Emma Didlake’s service is a reminder of the sacrifices made by those who fought in World War II or supported those did.
Didlake was a 38-year-old wife and mother of five when she signed up for the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps in 1943.
She held the rank of private and served stateside for about seven months as a driver.
Didlake sat in her wheelchair in the same spot in the Oval Office where foreign leaders sit when they meet with Obama.
As a scrum of reporters and photographers rushed in, Obama told Didlake, “Don’t worry about these folks.”
Obama tweeted afterward that Didlake is a “true American hero.”
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