Richard Overton, 107, left, and Elmer Hill, 107, center, shake hands before receiving a proclamation acknowledging and thanking them for their service on Friday in Austin, Texas. Overton is Austin's oldest living World War II veteran and Hill is Henderson, Texas' oldest living World War II veteran.

AUSTIN, Texas — At age 107, World War II veteran Elmer Hill doesn’t have many elders left. That’s why meeting a fellow veteran and Texan who’s three months his senior was a bit of a shock Friday.

Upon seeing Richard Overton for the first time, Hill suggested he might have to change his birthday. “He’s 107? Well, I better move mine up a little bit!”

The pair, who both fought in the war’s Pacific theater, met at an Austin senior center where they shook hands warmly, had lunch and were honored by Mayor Lee Leffingwell. Some have said that Overton and Hill are the oldest and second-oldest living veterans in the U.S., but others dispute the claim and there is no way to fully verify who is right.

Overton worked at a furniture store and is a former courier at the state Capitol who grew up in Austin, where he still lives. Hill, a retired high school principal, lives in the East Texas community of Henderson and was driven about 240 miles for the event, which was organized by Emeritus Senior Living.

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs does not have a complete list of all Americans who have served in the armed forces, making it impossible to know for sure that Overton and Hill are the nation’s oldest veterans. Still, Overton went to Washington for Veterans Day this year and was personally recognized by President Barack Obama.

His mind sharp and his wit quick, Overton quips about smoking cigars and having an occasional drink.

Both men are black, and during lunch, Hill talked about being drafted in 1942 into the then-segregated armed forces, and serving in the Navy. He was a cook and gunner on an aircraft carrier.

“I didn’t volunteer. They put me in there,” he said.

He also joked, “I’m not that old. I’ve just been here a very long time.”

Back then, blacks were assigned to all-black units and, at the start of World War II, they were often relegated to noncombat duties. As fighting continued, the heavy number of casualties forced the military to assign black troops to combat, and their numbers there spiked by 1945.