10/14/2026
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James Clayton Flowers is now the oldest known living man in the United States. He is 110 years old, and he is a Tuskegee Airman.
He took the title on October 4, when Major Jewel McDonald of Louisville, Mississippi, passed away at home at 110 years and 337 days. McDonald was born on November 1, 1915, just 54 days before Flowers.
McDonald had held the title for 72 days. He became the oldest known living man in America on July 24, when 111-year-old Ed Martin of Florida passed away.
These rankings come from the 2 organizations that verify the ages of the world’s oldest people. The Gerontology Research Group, a nonprofit founded in 1990, reported on October 7 that Flowers had become the oldest known living man in the USA. LongeviQuest lists his age as validated and says he is believed to have succeeded McDonald as the nation’s oldest living man. The Gerontology Research Group also recognizes Flowers as the oldest known living U.S. military veteran.
Flowers was born on Christmas Day, 1915, in rural Surry County, Virginia, and grew up working alongside his father. When World War II broke out, he enlisted in the Army. His test scores earned him a place at Officer Candidate School at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, where he was commissioned as a second lieutenant.
He was sent to Tuskegee Army Air Field in Alabama, where the military was training its first Black pilots, at a time when the War Department doubted Black Americans could master combat aircraft at all. Lieutenant Flowers helped teach the cadets in ground school: aerodynamics, engine mechanics and the physics of flight.
Pilots trained at Tuskegee went on to fly combat over North Africa, Sicily and Italy. Years later, the Tuskegee Airmen received the Congressional Gold Medal, an honor that recognized the instructors and support crews as well as the pilots.
After the war, Flowers worked in construction and later in education. He lives in Las Cruces, New Mexico, where his 110th birthday was celebrated with a parade.
Speaking about his medal and other honors, he told KVIA News in 2023: “I don’t want anything to do with war.”
On Christmas Day, he turns 111.
