Oldest U.S. Army vet is WWII WAC

MILFORD, Conn., April 1 (UPI) -- The oldest surviving veteran of the U.S. Army is believed to be a Connecticut woman who was 45 when she joined the Woman's Army Corps in World War II.

Army Secretary Pete Geren visited Gertrude Noone at the Carriage Green nursing home Tuesday, The Hartford Courant reported. Seven new recruits were sworn in at a ceremony honoring the 110-year-old vet.

Noone is still mentally and physically active, friends say. Milford City Attorney Win Smith said she recognized him even though she met him once five years ago when she registered to vote at town hall.

She takes her civil obligations seriously and is proud that the only election she missed was because women were not yet legally allowed to vote in Connecticut.

Deborah Woods, a grandniece, said Noone served in Tennessee after she enlisted in 1943 as a tech sergeant in a dispensary and was promoted to sergeant first class.

Noone also likes to talk.

"The secretary hasn't gotten a word in edgewise," Smith said.