OT: Frank Buckles, who served in Europe during WWI and was later a civilian POW in a Japanese POW camp in the Phillapines during WWII has died at the age of 110…he was the last surviving American who served in WWI. Let’s pause and remember him and all his brothers in arms from WWI (and all such conflicts for that matter) who helped keep us free and able to engage in our favorite passtime without fear. Here’s to 'ya Frank (et al).
Found this link from four years ago about Mr. Frank Buckles, In USA Today:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-03-27-cover-ww1-vet_N.htm
FTL: "…CHARLES TOWN, W.Va. — When the guns fell silent on Nov. 11, 1918, exactly 4,734,991 Americans had served in World War I. Four are known to be alive.
“I am one of the last,” says Frank Woodruff Buckles, who at 106 is among the few living links — and perhaps the healthiest — to what was known as the Great War. “I didn’t know it would be down to one to a million…”
We have many milestones in our lives and this is perhaps one of the saddest, WWi was supposed to be the “War That ended all Wars”. It helped to shape this nation and who we are today…
God Bless Those 4,734,991 Patriots; also, those who who have gone before,
and those who will follow them.
May he be at peace with the rest of the Men that went before him. May they all sleep knowing they did their duty and forever know their country is in the debt forever.
116,708 US military deaths alone. Overall (all nations): 9.7 mil. military deaths, 6.8 mil. civilians, 21 mil. wounded, Total: 37 mil. dead and wounded.
Folks I think this subject, above all others we’ve gotten embroiled in over the years, deserves the dignity and respect of not being transformed in to a political discussion…don’t you agree? I sure hope you do.
It’s sad, now only the World War One buffs can tell you what “just a kiss for the Kaiser” refers to, or can tell you that a “French 75” isn’t just a cannon, or recite the words to “Over There” or “The Long, Long Trail.” Truly the end of an era. Rest in peace, Frank. You were “to the mustard!”
http://lcweb2.loc.gov/diglib/vhp-stories/loc.natlib.afc2001001.01070/album
http://lcweb2.loc.gov/diglib/vhp-stories/story/loc.natlib.afc2001001.01070/transcript?ID=sr0001
In noting the sacrifice of so many, we are not being political. It is honoring all of them, not only the last US doughboy. That is true dignity and respect, because it honors them with truth.
If it wasn’t for brave men like Mr. Buckles, one thing is for sure, we would not be communicating in the form we are now. Freedom is anything but free.
Imagine the changes Mr. Buckles saw in his life:
-
He was old enough to remember the transition from horse and buggy to the automobile,
-
Alive when the Wright brothers flew for the first time however still in diapers when it happened, yet he almost outlived the space shuttle program
-
Saw disorganized systems of dirt roads become a superhighway system
-
Obviously saw the transition from steam to diesel on the railroads.
-
Imagine the differences in weapons from WWI to today that he witnessed.
Sad to see the last thread to WWI severed. RIP Mr Buckles!