Walter J. Heiman (Essen, Germany, March 12, 1901 – University City, Missouri, United States, March 18, 2007) was a Jewish American man who at the time of his death had become one of the last surviving veterans of the First World War. Born and raised in Germany, he enlisted as a private in the German Luftstreitkräfte in March 1918, at 17 years of age, after finishing high school. He was sent to an air base in Hanover for flight training, but the war ended before he finished training. He talked vividly about the situation by explaining that the German Revolution broke out on November 9, 1918, which caused Kaiser Wilhelm II to abdicate and flee the country, and since at that point in time each soldier made his own decision about his immediate future, Walter decided to go home to Essen. After