Emiliano Mercado del Toro

Emiliano Mercado del Toro, the oldest man in the world  who lives with his family in Isabela, was born Aug. 21, 1891, in Cabo Rojo, a town in south-west Puerto Rico.   Seven years before the United States seized Puerto Rico during the Spanish-American war.
He was born while Puerto Rico was suffering through a hurricane that killed over 3,000 people. The Supreme Court Chief Justice Earl Warren, writer Henry Miller and Dominican dictator Rafael Trujillo were born that same year.
Also that year, Thomas Edison patented the radio and an earthquake killed 25,000 people in Japan.

At the age of 25,  he was recruited to serve in the conflict then raging in Europe, in what was then called the Great War.
.  He entered the military on Oct. 7, 1918, at the Las Casas Camp in Puerto Rico, from where he was immediately sent to Panama for training.
The armistice of Nov. 11, 1918, pre-empted his deployment to the battlefront.
The oldest man in the world celebrated his 114th birthday Wednesday, eating cake with dozens of family and friends and smiling as the famous Boricua Iris Chacon performer sang to him.

Emiliano Mercado del Toro, who was born when Puerto Rico was part of the Spanish empire.  also received birthday letters from U.S. President George W. Bush and Puerto Rico Gov. Anibal Acevedo Vila.
The party took place three days after his birthday. About 100 people, including politicians, veterans, neighbors and relatives, joined Mercado del Toro for the celebration in a plaza in the northwestern coastal town of Isabella, where he lives with a niece.
Mercado, who uses a wheelchair and has been blind for three years, arrived at the plaza in a horse-drawn carriage. He grinned as Iris Chacon, a singer famous on the Caribbean island, held his hand and crooned the Mexican birthday song "Las Mananitas."
Mercado del Toro was declared the oldest man in the world by the Guinness Book of World Records in January 17, 2005, replacing an American man who died in his sleep at 113.

Guinness had recognized another Puerto Rican from Río Piedras, as being the world's oldest person.
Ramona Trinidad Iglesias Jordan died May 29, 2004, after a bout with pneumonia. She was 114.
Mercado attributed his long life to plenty of dancing as a young man and eating
"funche," a traditional Puerto Rican dish of cornmeal and cod.

In 1993, Mercado del Toro was honored by then-President Bill Clinton with the medal commemorating the 75th anniversary of the signing of the truce that ended World War I.

The president of the Disabled American Veterans chapter in Isabela, Josue Cruz Sanchez, said Mercado del Toro is an honorary member of the group, which since 2002 has been trying to get the Pentagon to recognize him as the oldest living U.S. military veteran.

Mercado del Toro's birth certificate and 1918 Army discharge papers are among the documentation DAV has submitted to the Defense Department.

The vet, the elder of two brothers, never married nor had children, but says he has been well taken care of by his nephews and their families.

"I feel well, but my legs are weak and trembling, otherwise I would be up and running, but I can't complain, I'm grateful to God and happy with what I've achieved and with my family," added Mercado.

He credits his longevity to a diet consisting largely of boiled corn meal, cod, and milk - from both cows and coconuts.

He reminisced about being a child when U.S. troops invaded Puerto Rico in 1898, and said he clearly remembers the fighting that marked the end of Spain's colonial empire.

Puerto Ricans have served in the military since 1917, when they were made citizens partly out of concern that Allied forces would need more troops. About 18,000 Puerto Ricans served in World War I, more than 60,000 in World War II, 48,000 in Vietnam and 43,500 in the Korean War, which had the largest number of Puerto Rican casualties — about 750, Yet, the nearly 4,000,000 island residents cannot vote in United States elections and have no voting representative in Congress.

LINKS:

guinnessworldrecords.com/

terra.com/ Jan 20,2005

seniorjournal.com/NEWS/SeniorStats/5-03-02

coloquio.com/
 

                                               last updated:Monday August 29, 2005

   SenorBoriQua.Net©    
 

 HOME  ABOUT US  DISCLAIMER  COPYRIGHTS  AFFILIATES    BORIQUA-GROUP