LaQue, the last survivor

As we peruse the daily obituaries in our papers, we see the staggering number of "The Greatest Generation" of WWII veterans pass away, silencing those who lived and experienced war at its worst. With all the men who ever served in the 18th New York, there came a time when the survivors dwindled to one. That one with the unasked honor to outlive his comrades was John B. LaQue, of Company A. He worked tirelessly amidst his elder age and championed for veterans of his generation by driving throughout the country to give speeches on behalf of the G.A.R. throughout the 1920s and '30s. In 1936, his Model T Ford mileage clicked over the 141,000 miles! LaQue lived to be 97 years old, and died in Schenectady, New York on May 1. 1938.