How honoring the oldest female WWII veteran became a social event

At 108 years old, Lucy Coffee is the oldest female WWII Veteran in America. Despite ailing health and concerns about transportation outside of her San Antonio home, she was recently able to make a trip to view the war memorials in Washington D.C. through Honor Flight Austin. In a truly remarkable and poignant juxtaposition of the changing times, Coffee’s entire two-day trip was documented by the non-profit organization on their Facebook and Twitter pages for any member of the social media platforms to honor her service through interacting with the posts showing her journey through our nation’s capital. Coffee served with the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps during World War II, which ended in 1945. That’s 24 years before the advent of the Internet, 37 years before the word “Internet” would first be used, and 59 years before Facebook launched in 2004. In an even more stark contrast, Coffee was born in 1906 while Twitter officially launched in 2006. Their birthdays are a full century apart. Coffee’s adventure was shared, tweeted, liked and commented on over the course of the two days. She departed from the San Antonio International Airport, where a collage of her departure has garnered over 3,000 shares alone. During her visit in Washington D.C. she met with President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden. The moment was captured in a picture posted on the Honor Flight Austin Twitter page.  The picture was also shared on the organization’s Facebook page where users like Phyllis Springfield thanked her for her service. Her next visit was to the WWII Memorial where she was honored by various members of the armed forces and those that came out to greet her, including Bob and Elizabeth Dole. Those in attendance even shared their own pictures taken during the event, including Facebook user Joy Mowry Schwartz who snapped a photo of Coffee with the Washington Monument in the background. The power of social media allowed veterans from around the U.S. to participate in Coffee's tour, while she experienced a trip she waited a lifetime for.