Moses Hardy | |
|---|---|
 Hardy at age 110 or 111 | |
| Born | January 6, 1894 Aberdeen, Mississippi, U.S. |
| Died | December 7, 2006 (aged 112 years, 335 days) Aberdeen, Mississippi, U.S. |
| Allegiance |  United States of America |
| Service/ |  United States Army |
| Years of service | July 1918–July 1919 |
| Unit | 805th Pioneer Infantry |
| Battles/wars | World War I |
| Awards | Victory Medal Occupational Medal Légion d'honneur |
Moses Hardy (January 6, 1894 – December 7, 2006) was, at age 112, the last surviving African-American veteran of World War I and one of the last surviving American veterans of that war. The son of former slaves, Hardy was born in 1894 and lived a religious and farming life until he signed up to serve overseas in World War I in July 1918. As an African American during the Jim Crow era, he served in the segregated 805th Pioneer Infantry, which was assigned a variety of manual labor and support tasks. Hardy himself served as a scout, supplying the front line troops when necessary. Though Hardy did experience combat, he was never seriously injured and rarely discussed his experiences concerning the fighting. Instead, he preferred to recount stories about the food, the bravery of the soldiers and the weather in France.
After the war, he took on a variety of jobs including school bus driver, farmer, deacon and cosmetics salesman, the latter of which he performed well past his 100th birthday. He received the Victory Medal, a special medal from the Mississippi National Guard and the French Légion d'honneur. In 1999, the Mississippi Legislature adopted a resolution recognizing him as an outstanding citizen of Mississippi. At the time of his death, aged 112, he was recognized as the oldest combat veteran ever, the oldest male ever recorded in Mississippi and the second-oldest man and World War I veteran in the world.