Woman deemed oldest US veteran set for flight to meet Obama

DETROIT -- A 110-year-old woman believed to be the nation's oldest veteran is preparing to visit Washington on an honorary trip that includes meeting President Barack Obama. There's just one glitch: She wants a jacket to wear with her official trip T-shirt, because she doesn't have "Michelle Obama arms."

Emma Didlake, a longtime Detroit resident and veteran of the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps during World War II, is scheduled to leave Friday. The visit is being arranged by Talons Out Honor Flight, a southwest Michigan chapter of a national nonprofit that provides free, one-day trips for veterans to visit Washington's monuments and memorials.

After she was discharged, Didlake and her family moved to Detroit in 1944, and she joined the local NAACP chapter. She marched with the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in 1963 and received a lifetime achievement award two years ago from the chapter.