Oldest female veteran in the U.S. dies at 108

Lucy Coffey with Vice President Joe Biden.

(Image credit: Twitter.com/lddybud)

last updated 20 March 2015

Lucy Coffey, the oldest female veteran in the United States, died Thursday at her home in Texas. She was 108.

A native of Indiana, Coffey was working at a Dallas grocery store when Pearl Harbor was attacked. She was 37 years old, and quit her job to enlist in the Women's Auxiliary Army Corps. Coffey became a sergeant, and earned two bronze stars and the Philippine Liberation Ribbon for her service. She was discharged in 1945, but continued working as an Army civilian in Okinawa, Japan, and later Kelly Air Force Base in San Antonio, where she retired in 1971. Last year, Coffey visited the White House, and met with the president and vice president.

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

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