105 years old and still voting: Olive Branch WWII veteran casts ballot in DeSoto County

DESOTO COUNTY, Miss. (WMC) - An Olive Branch centenarian who helped defend American democracy more than eight decades ago isn’t letting age keep him from doing his civic duty.

World War II veteran K.T. Robbins, 105, headed to the polls Friday to cast his absentee ballot at the DeSoto County Courthouse. Believed to be Mississippi’s oldest living WWII veteran, Robbins celebrated his 105th birthday on the Fourth of July—a date he shares with the nation he fought to protect.

Robbins enlisted in the U.S. Army at age 18, rising to sergeant in Gen. George S. Patton’s Third Army and participating in D-Day operations. After spending five birthdays overseas during the war, he returned home to the Mid-South, where he and his late wife, Lillian, owned and operated Robbins Hardware in Memphis.

His civic dedication has continued well into his second century. In 2024, Olive Branch and state leaders honored Robbins for championing a Mississippi constitutional amendment that exempts honorably discharged veterans aged 90 and older from all ad valorem homestead property taxes.

Friday marked Mississippi’s deadline for in-person absentee voting ahead of Election Day. While the state does not offer universal early voting, registered voters who qualify may vote absentee if they:

• Are 65 or older
• Have a permanent or temporary physical disability
• Will be outside their county of residence on Election Day
• Must work or be on call during polling hours
• Are students, teachers, or administrators whose school commitments require them to be away from their precinct

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