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Frank Buckles, the last American veteran of WWI turned 110 yesterday. I thought the last American WWI vet had died a couple of years ago. I think it is amazing that this guy is still around, what a ride he has been on. He also spent 3 1/2 years in a Japanese POW camp during WWII. He might live to see the 100th anniversary of the war's outbreak.
Update: Mr Buckles, America's last living WWI vet passed away Yesterday Morning. With him, passes a last little bit of American history as well. He was 110 years old.
This sort of puts it into perspective. These are the preseidents who served their terms in Mr Buckles lifetime:Theodore RooseveltWilliam Howard TaftWoodrow WilsonWarren Gamaliel HardingCalvin CoolidgeHerbert Clark HooverFranklin Delano RooseveltHarry S. TrumanDwight David EisenhowerJohn Fitzgerald KennedyLyndon Baines JohnsonRichard Milhous NixonGerald Rudolph FordJames Earl Carter, Jr.Ronald Wilson ReaganGeorge Herbert Walker BushWilliam Jefferson ClintonGeorge Walker BushBarack Hussein ObamaThat is every single President of the 20th and 21st centrury!The first President born after Mr Buckles was Kennedy, and he outlived all them except the bolded ones.RIP Mr Buckles and thank you for your service!
I find it amazing that he almost lived to see the 100th anniversary of the war's outbreak. He had a great run at least.
On a related note, the last male WWI vet (from Australia) is about to turn 110:Last WWI combatant to mark 110th birthdayThe article says there is also a female WWI vet living in England, also age 110.
I know there are still a few alive. I think there are even one or two German vets and at least one Russian Vet still living.
Now THAT will a day when the very last one is gone… Sort of like when Albert Woolson died in 1956 as the last verifiable veterna of the Civil War… Something about knowing that a person is alive and is a link to a period or event is, I don't know, comforting? When Mr Woolson died an age passed. When the last WWI veteran passed, regardless of what country they are from, another age will pass...
I also find this a fascinating topic. When we read about history in our textbooks and study it in class, we tend to think of it as being frozen in time and so very distant. But when we hear about veterans still living or recently died, history comes rushing up on us. We realize it is not so distant after all.For reference, here are some related threads on the forum:Last person to receive Civil War benefitsCivil war vet childrenAnd an external site listing the last vets/dependents of major wars America has been involved in:http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0778679.html
That last site is pretty interesting especially the page about veteran statistics, since I will sortly be one of those numbers and hopefully more than one.
I had heard this a few days ago and wanted to post it here for record-keeping:Last post for final veteran of WWI Just to clarify, was truly he the last remaining WWI veteran, or is there some qualifier (e.g. last remaining Allied veteran, etc.)?
