Last WWI Navy vet dies at age 105

CHARLOTTE HALL, Md. -- Lloyd Brown, the last known surviving World War I Navy veteran, died Thursday. He was 105.

Brown died at the Charlotte Hall Veterans Home in St. Mary's County, according to family and the U.S. Naval District in Washington.

Brown was born Oct. 7, 1901, in Lutie, Mo., a small farming town in the Ozarks. His family later moved to Chadwick, Mo. In 1918, at age 16, Brown lied about his age to join the Navy and was soon on the gun crew on the battleship USS New Hampshire.

He finished his tour of duty in 1919, took a break for a couple of years, then re-enlisted. He learned to play the cello at a musicians school in Norfolk, Va., and was assigned to an admiral's 10-piece chamber orchestra aboard the USS Seattle.

Even after reaching 100, Brown remained independent, living alone in his Charlotte Hall bungalow and driving a golf cart around his neighborhood.