MILITARY

A prize fit for the Last Man

Gavin Stewart
gstewart@gastongazette.com
World War II veteran Ray Stewart smiles as he holds a bottle of whiskey given to him by the Gastonia East Rotary Club. The bottle will replace the one once belonging to the World War II Last Man Club of Gaston County. [GAVIN STEWART/THE GASTON GAZETTE]

World War II veteran Ray Stewart grinned from ear to ear as he left the Gastonia East Rotary Club meeting Monday with a keepsake from a time not so long ago.

Few veterans in the World War II Last Man Club of Gaston County are still alive.

Stewart, a 96-year-old U.S. Army veteran born and raised in Gastonia, was one of many who joined the service organization, which formed in 1994. There were 249 members in 2001, and eight of those veterans are still here today.

The group adopted an interesting perk: a fifth-gallon of Canadian Club whiskey goes to the last living member as their prize.

The bottle was kept religiously at First Citizens Bank in Gastonia, according to Stewart. However, the bottle disappeared at some point in the group’s history.

No one knows of the bottle’s whereabouts, but Stewart speculates someone, perhaps a non-member, drank the whole bottle by themselves. It hurt him dearly, he said.

“Somebody came along and they claimed it. They didn’t go on and see who was left of the club,” he said.

On Monday, Rotary President Jason Ramsey presented a bottle of Defiant whiskey to Stewart, replenishing the void.

Ramsey chose the brand because Stewart was defiant throughout the stories written on the Last Man Club of Gaston County written by Dallas native Marty Cloninger

Cloninger also presented Stewart a copy of her book, which contains stories from 42 members of the group’s honor guard.

Stewart wasn’t confident where the bottle would be stored. The remaining members will need to agree on where the bottle will be kept, he said.

“We’ll figure it out,” he said

You can reach Gavin Stewart at 704-869-1819 or on Twitter @GavinGazette.