President Clinton honored the last World War II veteran serving on active duty at Veterans Day ceremonies today, but Capt. Earl R. Fox did not feel like a hero.

''I really feel a sense of humility because so many of my friends, my classmates and shipmates did not come home,'' said Captain Fox, an 80-year-old Coast Guard doctor who served on Navy torpedo boats and submarines in the Pacific.

''I don't think the president was really recognizing Earl Fox,'' he said. ''I represent all the people of World War II who weren't able to be here today.''

More Americans served in World War II than in any other war. But of more than 16 million participants, only Captain Fox is now on active duty.