News and Headlines

Actions

Woman, 87, still gets monthly $73 VA pension from father's Civil War service

Report: She's last person with Civil War pension
Woman, 87, still gets monthly $73 VA pension from father's Civil War service
Posted

More than 150 years after it ended, the Civil War still directly impacts one woman's life.

Irene Triplett, 87, is the last person still receiving a monthly pension for Civil War service from the Department of Veterans Affairs, according to USA Today.

Triplett, who reportedly lived in North Carolina as of 2014, collects a check for $73.13 every month because of her father's service as a Confederate soldier.

According to USA Today, Triplett's father Moses Triplett died in 1938 but not before marrying Elida Triplett, a woman that was about 50 years younger than him, who would be Irene Triplett's mother.

Triplett's continuing pension is the lasting result of then-President Abraham Lincoln's call for the American government to provide care for veterans on both sides of the Civil War.

Clint Davis is a reporter for the Scripps National Desk. Follow him on Twitter @MrClintDavis. Keep up to date with the latest news by following @ScrippsNational on Twitter.