David JonDeJonge

The Pentagon Nine · Pentagon 04

James Russell Coffey

🇺🇸United States —

U.S. Army · sergeant

J. Russell Coffey was the oldest known surviving U.S. First World War veteran at his death and one of the final three; he served stateside and was not a combat veteran.

Portrait of James Russell Coffey by David J. DeJonge
Photograph by David J. DeJonge · From the Last Witnesses portrait record
Collection
The Pentagon Nine
Service nation
United States
Service
U.S. Army · sergeant

The verified story

A life carried forward in the record.

James Russell Coffey was born in Tiro, Ohio, on September 1, 1898. He was twenty and attending college when he entered the U.S. Army in October 1918. His service came at the war’s closing edge: Coffey remained in the United States, attained the rank of sergeant, and was honorably discharged on December 12, one month after the Armistice.

The brief military record was only one part of a long life. Coffey earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Ohio State University and a doctorate in education from New York University. He taught in schools and colleges, spent two decades on the faculty of Bowling Green State University, directed graduate study in health and physical education, officiated sports, and served his Rotary club for more than fifty years.

DeJonge encountered him at the opposite end of that full career. Coffey’s daughter had recently died. His room was modest—a bed, a dresser, and stacks of letters from well-wishers and autograph seekers around the world. During the short portrait session, a nurse asked him to open his eyes. He did, briefly, and then closed them again. DeJonge used three stars in the portrait to mark the three centuries through which Coffey had lived. The image does not pretend that he saw battle. Its power lies elsewhere: in the quiet face of a man whose small window of wartime service had made him one of the country’s final living links to 1918.

The completed record

What followed.

Coffey died on December 20, 2007, at 109. At his death he was the oldest known surviving U.S. First World War veteran and one of the final three. He had never deployed overseas. Congress entered a tribute to his military service, educational career, and community work into the record in February 2008. One month later, his portrait was unveiled posthumously as part of DeJonge’s permanent Pentagon installation, preserving the final encounter after the witness himself was gone.

The archive · c. 2009–2010

David’s original exhibition story.

This text is preserved from the original traveling-exhibition record. It retains the language, grammar, and understanding of that moment. Dates, survivor distinctions, and later developments are corrected in the verified record above.

Original exhibition story panel for James Russell Coffey
Original exhibition panel by David J. DeJonge · Select to view at full web resolution
Read the complete original text

Location: North Baltimore, Ohio—USA Service: United States Army Age at time of interview: 109 September 1, 1898 – December 20, 2007

James Russell Coffey, Ed. D. lived a quiet life in North Baltimore, Ohio. At the end, a lone soldier, James Russell Coffey was the third to last World War I veteran in America and died alone by himself.

Born in Tiro, Ohio, Coffey enlisted in the United States Army in October of 1918, just one month before the end of the war. At the time, Coffey was 20 years old, attending Wooster College and working toward the first of three degrees he attained. He had attempted to enlist earlier but was rejected because both of his brothers were already fighting in Europe. Two weeks later Coffey reapplied and was accepted into the United States Army. Coffey said, “I volunteered because I would have been drafted if I hadn’t.”

America’s involvement in “The Great War” was swift and precise. Under the leadership of President Woodrow Wilson the United States entered World War I on April 6, 1917. The first United States troops arrived in Europe on June 26, 1917. Over the next month General John Pershing requested 1,000,000 men but revised that number to 3,000,000. During the summer of 1918, 10,000 fresh troops were being sent to France every day, and by the end of the war American armed forces had swelled from 120,000 before the war to a final number of 4,734,991. While the United States involvement lasted only 19 months, America suffered over 116,000 deaths and 204,000 casualties.

Coffey served for just two months and was discharged on December 12, 1918, 31 days after the Armistice was signed on November 11 at 11:11. Although his service was very limited, and he never left the United States of America, he achieved the rank of sergeant.

Coffey’s only daughter died at the age of 84, just four months prior to his death. When interviewed for this project, Coffey was living alone in a modest room; a bed and a dresser were all that he had in his room. Stacks of letters from well wishers and autograph seekers from around the world covered his dresser.

The three stars on the left side of the portrait symbolize the three centuries Coffey lived in.

Documented record

Sources.