Last US WWI veteran dead, 110 years old.

[arildno]

Mr. Frank W. Buckles, who signed up in august 1917 died this Sunday.

He was the last living US veteran, and will rest at Arlington, according to his own wish:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/02/28/AR2011022800165.html

 

[Evo]

Amazing to live through all of that.

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

Mind boggling what he must have seen and experienced in those 110 years!

 

[Insanity]

Curious, I know there was a WWI vet in my wife's hometown, wonder if he passed a few years ago.

 

[arildno]

Curious, I know there was a WWI vet in my wife's hometown, wonder if he passed a few years ago.

According to Washington Post, an Australian man, 109, and a British woman, 110, are still around.

 

[AlephZero]

According to Washington Post, an Australian man, 109, and a British woman, 110, are still around.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florence_Green
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claude_Choules

Two of the last three in the UK died within a week of each other, in summer 2009. This guy's collection of "records" will be hard to beat: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Allingham

 

[zomgwtf]

The last Canadian WWI vet died last year. It was the first Remembrance day without a WWI vet.

I agree it would be interesting to know his life story, all the things he must have experienced and lived through during those 110 years.

May he RIP.

 

[arildno]

As for longlived military men few, if any, can beat Johann Joseph, Count Radetzky (as in Strauss' immortal Radetzky March)
Living from 1766 to 1858, Count Radetzky enlisted in 1785, ending his career as Viceroy of Lombardy-Venetia from 1848-1857.

An active military service for 72 years is, perhaps, more scary than impressive...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Radetzky_von_Radetz

And, the Radetzky March?
It was composed in 1848, as the thankful gift from Strauss that Radetzky chose not to execute Strauss' erring soldier son...

"Despite its military nature, its tone is rather festive than martial. This is because the Field Marshall could have executed the son of Strauss who served in the army, but chose not to. The march is thus more of a piece by a thankful father to the savior of his son than a march about a military man. It is usually played in under three minutes."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radetzky_March

 

[flyingpig]

Wow wow wow. This guy somehow made it to through a battlefield of infinite bullets passing him and he has lived up to 110, which is like not even normal people can?

What happened to malnutrition during war? Lucky man lol

 

[turbo]

Wow wow wow. This guy somehow made it to through a battlefield of infinite bullets passing him and he has lived up to 110, which is like not even normal people can?

What happened to malnutrition during war? Lucky man lol

Not to mention spending several years in Japanese prison camps after being captured in the Philippines during WWII. Buckles was a man with a history.

 

[Futurama]

My Grandfather, born in 1918, served in World War II (not WWI obviously) but I have never been able to talk to him about it. I've never met a veteran willing to talk about his/her experiences in combat. I've always loved listening to a soldier's recollection of a firefight and was so fascinated at how vivid the moment was to them. Those moments of combat carry in their minds for the rest of their lives and they carry the first hand account of what happens out there. I don't know how many years my Grandfather has left, but I sure hope he will be willing to talk about it before he passes.

 

[arildno]

My Grandfather, born in 1918, served in World War II (not WWI obviously) but I have never been able to talk to him about it. I've never met a veteran willing to talk about his/her experiences in combat. I've always loved listening to a soldier's recollection of a firefight and was so fascinated at how vivid the moment was to them. Those moments of combat carry in their minds for the rest of their lives and they carry the first hand account of what happens out there. I don't know how many years my Grandfather has left, but I sure hope he will be willing to talk about it before he passes.

It might be that your Grandad is more ashamed of his state of terror at the time being, than of the simple fact that whatever emotional state he was in at times, he still should feel pride at his war service and his due recognition, not the least from himself, that he was a hero.

Never having been in a war, I still think if I were in the midst of it, exceedingly shameful moments of, say, uncontrolled bowel movements, is not an uncommon phenomenon that I might be subject to.

Other indicators of personal "cowardice" might be equally unpleasant memories.

War is hell, I think, and perhaps you should respect your Grandad's reticence.
Not because he was not a hero (I'm sure he was), but because it forced upon him insights into what he regards as weaknesses in his own person, and therefore is unwilling to communicate to others.

Perhaps he simply prefers to let history be history, and that you should respect his wish in that regard?

 

[Jimmy Snyder]

My grandfather served in the American Expeditionary Force in WWI. To know him, you would never guess he had been a soldier. He never spoke of his experience. I'm sure he would prefer to sit down and share a beer and a few laughs with someone rather than kill them.

 

[turbo]

My wife's father (dead decades ago) served in SE Asia and India during WWII organizing local labor, building air-fields, etc, to provide places for US war-planes to land, refuel, etc. He suffered terribly from the effects of malaria that he contracted there until the complications from his diabetes killed him. He would talk to me about his service because he wanted to share his experiences with the people in Burma, India, etc, and how nice they were. I found out after his death that his close ties with those people led to his involvement in guerrilla-type raids on Japanese assets in SEA, but he never told me of those.

 

[Futurama]

It might be that your Grandad is more ashamed of his state of terror at the time being, than of the simple fact that whatever emotional state he was in at times, he still should feel pride at his war service and his due recognition, not the least from himself, that he was a hero.

Never having been in a war, I still think if I were in the midst of it, exceedingly shameful moments of, say, uncontrolled bowel movements, is not an uncommon phenomenon that I might be subject to.

Other indicators of personal "cowardice" might be equally unpleasant memories.

War is hell, I think, and perhaps you should respect your Grandad's reticence.
Not because he was not a hero (I'm sure he was), but because it forced upon him insights into what he regards as weaknesses in his own person, and therefore is unwilling to communicate to others.

Oh, I think you misunderstood what I meant. I never once pressed him to talk about it. I would never do that. And above all, I do think he deserves the respect. He is a great man and I would not pressure him into anything.