KENTUCKY'S OLDEST KNOWN WWII VETERAN CELEBRATES
107TH BIRTHDAY
Senate President Robert Stivers (R-Manchester), Senate District 25, delivered a special Senate resolution to Hacker at the Paul E. Patton Eastern Kentucky Veterans Center in Hazard, Kentucky. Senator Matt Deneen (R-Elizabethtown), Senate District 10 and Veterans, Military Affairs and Public Protection Co-Chair, and Representative Steve Bratcher (R-Elizabethtown), House District 25 and VMAPP member, also celebrated Hacker’s military service and life-long contributions.
FRANKFORT, KY (October 2, 2023) – Today, Kentucky’s most senior World War II veteran, Oakley Hacker, turned 107 years young. To help commemorate the event, Senate President Robert Stivers (R-Manchester) delivered a special Senate resolution commemorating the milestone.
“It’s a privilege to meet a member of the Greatest Generation and celebrate his unique contributions to this country and the world," Stivers said. “It warms my heart to honor someone who served so faithfully in one of our nation's bloodiest wars, returned to our beautiful commonwealth and continued making contributions to the community while he raised his family.”
Hacker achieved the rank of gunner’s mate second class and served as an armed guard in the Navy aboard the SS Oliver Wolcott. They were referred to as the “Forgotten Heroes” because of their service protecting cargo, Liberty, and transport ships and did not receive much news coverage. Oakley provided gunnery support during D-Day, June 6, 1944, when more than 150,000 allied troops landed on the beaches of Normandy, France, as part of the largest seaborne invasion in history.
“I was proud to serve in our Navy, as did every other able-bodied man at the time,” said Hacker. “Even though war is a horrible experience no matter whose side you’re on, I felt I had a duty to defend this country and my family. I’d do it all over again.”
Hacker was born in Bernice, Kentucky, and is the son of William Dillon “Crow” Hacker and Mary E. Hornsby Hacker, from Clay County. He was a state worker, owned a used car lot, and raised his family of four children with his wife, Nella Mae. Hacker bought and sold cars until he was 92 years old.
“I am thrilled to celebrate Daddy in such a big way and am so happy that our family and friends could participate,” said Fatima Hacker Brown, Hacker’s daughter. “It warms my heart to have created yet another special family memory to cherish.”
Read more about D-Day, here.
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Senate President Robert Stivers, R-Manchester, represents the 25th Senate District, including Clay, Jackson, Knox, McCreary, Owsley, and Whitley Counties. He serves as chair of the Senate Committee on Committees and the Rules Committee. President Stivers is co-chair of the Legislative Research Commission Committee. Additionally, he serves as a member of the Senate standing committees on Education and Judiciary. During the 2023 interim, Stivers is a member of the Task Force on Local Government Taxation.