Last US Veteren of World War I dies....

[G._Hoffman]

RIP, Corporal Buckles.

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




Gabriel

[John]

And we're losing so many from WW2 each day too. The greatest generation for sure.

I often wonder how on earth we'd ever respond to demands and sacrifices like that, with today's nation.

Then again, the Hollywood headlines are not (hopefully) indicative of our true worth.

[tubenit]

Gabriel,

Thank you for posting that and honoring our vets!  My dad was a veteran of WWII, Korean war and Viet-Nam.  Those guys paid a huge price for our freedom & I am grateful for their sacrifice and courage.

With respect, Tubenit

[G._Hoffman]

Gabriel,

Thank you for posting that and honoring our vets!  My dad was a veteran of WWII, Korean war and Viet-Nam.  Those guys paid a huge price for our freedom & I am grateful for their sacrifice and courage.

With respect, Tubenit

You welcome. 

He was 110 years old, so if you do the math he was 16 when he joined up in 1917!       That wasn't uncommon back then, but, as a pacifist, I have a great deal of respect for anyone who puts themselves in harms way for the well being of others.  I couldn't do it myself, but that just makes me respect those who can all the more.


Gabriel

[Willabe]

Thank you for posting that and honoring our vets! Those guys paid a huge price for our freedom & I am grateful for their sacrifice and courage.

Yes, Thank You.

My dad spent 3 years in New Guinea (WWII) in the army. My uncle spent WWII in the Pacific in the Marines from the Philipines to Auss. and back again. Thoses guys were something.

How I wish they were still around.     


              Brad         

[bigsbybender]

2 of my paternal great grandfathers were Doughboys, one was a native of Ireland but joined the US Army.  On my mom's side my family lived right on the Eastern Front during the Great War, it wasn't long after that they decided to come stateside.

It's amazing to think that this man was of their generation and lived until now.   It was just a few months ago the last Brit named Harry Patch (of all things) died.

There are no German or French survivors even though they had the most troops involved. I had met a few German WWI vets when I lived there, always an interesting story.

When I was a kid, there was an old man in the neighborhood that was missing a nose. Being a kid I didn't hesitate to ask what happened, he told me a mustard gas-attack from the Kaiser's boy's did it. Another old man I knew was underage, ran away to Britain, lied about his age and joined the RAF before the US had entered the war. His stories of early aviation kept me from being willing to fly for many years.

The chemical weapons usage from that war is unparalleled to this day. 

j.

[Ritchie200]

Every war has it's own hell, and I am in no way trivializing the others.  The books I have read about the ground fighting in WWI were absolutely chilling and of unspeakable horror.  Not isolated cases, but every day, day after day.  Yeah, I read this guy's story online and he lied about his age to get in.  My daughter has a book called Now and Then.  There are aerial pics of a town in Germany before and after WWI.  There was nothing left.  No buildings, trees, fences, nothing.  No hills or valleys or roads.  Only trenches.  I can not imagine...

I had a close friend who recently passed away.  He was a WWII vet and a Corsair pilot in the Pacific Theater.  He got shot up pretty bad and spent the end of the war in a hospital in Hawaii.  We used to fly together for hundreds of hours and he told me things about the war that he had never told his wife or kids.  I was honored!  But the things he had been living with, all bottled up, would make anybody wake up screaming at night.  These are truly exceptional brave heros.  I thanked him every time we spent time together.  He just smiled, brushed me off, and changed the subject.  I will never forget him or his sacrifice.

Jim

[Bassmanster]

My late uncle was in the 504 PIR, 82nd Airborne.  Jumped into Sicily, Italy and Holland.  Landed at Anzio.  Was in the Bulge.
Silver Star, field commission.  Bars given to him in the field by Gen. Gavin.

[GuitarPilot65]

What a remarkable generation of Americans.  I hope we can all speak at length with any of these heroes with whom we come into contact.
I believe Mr. Buckles will be interred in Arlington National Cemetary on Tuesday next week.