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The Spectacle Blog
Frank Buckles, the last surviving American veteran of WWI, died on Sunday at the age of 110.
Buckles, who served as an ambulance driver and medic in France, also spent 3½ years as a civilian P.O.W. in the Phillipines during WWII.
With Buckles’ passing this leaves only two surviving WWI veterans in the entire world both of whom are British. Florence Green, who served with the Women’s Royal Air Force, turned 110 last month while Claude Choules, who saw combat in both WWI and WWII, turns 110 on March 3rd.
Soon there will be no one tell us what happened in the war to end all wars. Yes, we have movies, books, photographs and even their letters. While they give us some insight into what happened it is no substitute for a living, breathing human being who experienced it all firsthand to tell the story to someone who has never heard it before.
While we honor Buckles’ service to this country we should also be mindful of the fact that a vital part of our country’s history is forever gone. So as the veterans of WWII, Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq pass on we must not only keep their memories alive but we must remind ourselves and inform succeeding generations why they fought for the United States of America. It is a matter too important to cede to the agenda of others.
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More Blog Posts by Aaron Goldstein
http://spectator.org/blog/2011/03/01/frank-buckles-rip
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Ammo Guy| 3.1.11 @ 9:56AM
One of the ways we can honor those doughboys of Corporal Buckles’ caliber is to get behind the movement to create a national WWI memorial on the Mall by refurbishing the existing DC WWI memorial which currently occupies space there. This edifice is currently in sad shape, as one would expect considering its locale and the denizens thereof. If you are interested, here is a website and recent article describing this effort – it’s the least we can do for those who went “over there” and “over the top.” May God bless them all.
http://www.wwimemorial.org/
http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/10/.....ml?hpt=T2#
Aaron Goldstein| 3.1.11 @ 11:05AM
Thank you for letting me and our readers know about the WWI Memorial.
Michael L. Hauschild| 3.1.11 @ 10:57AM
My uncle passed in 1983. He was a rear echelon Bugler for a headquarters company in France. He never saw action but was the most Patriotic citizen in our town. He personally paid the dues for any returning WWII veterans to join our American Legion Post, a post named for Harry Bossard, a friend of his that was KIA. One of my friends grandfathers passed away from complications due to being mustard gassed and a neighbor of my youth dropped bombs (by hand) on submarines passing through the Gibralter Straight from a balloon. They are gone but rest assured Aaron, their stories will be passed on.
Aaron Goldstein| 3.1.11 @ 11:04AM
Thank you for sharing your family's history with us. Your uncle performed a mitzvah for those WWII vets.