Last Living WW I Vet?

[bravo22b]

I know that the NY Times is mostly a liberal rag, but even they have some good stuff occasionally:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/12/opinion/12rubin.html

BY any conceivable measure, Frank Buckles has led an extraordinary life. Born on a farm in Missouri in February 1901, he saw his first automobile in his hometown in 1905, and his first airplane at the Illinois State Fair in 1907. At 15 he moved on his own to Oklahoma and went to work in a bank; in the 1940s, he spent more than three years as a Japanese prisoner of war. When he returned to the United States, he married, had a daughter and bought a farm near Charles Town, W. Va., where he lives to this day. He drove a tractor until he was 104.

But even more significant than the remarkable details of Mr. Buckles’s life is what he represents: Of the two million soldiers the United States sent to France in World War I, he is the only one left.

Nevertheless, he carries with aplomb the burden of being the last of his kind. “For a long time I’ve felt that there should be more recognition of the surviving veterans of World War I,” he tells me; now that group is, more or less, him. How does he feel about that? “Someone has to do it,” he says blithely, but adds: “It kind of startles you.”

I don't know whether that is the literal truth, but it is still shocking. I can't imagine realizing that you might be the last of such an important (and large) group left alive. My grandfather served in WW I, and he has been dead for 31 years.

I wonder how many people in this country even appreciate what Mr. Buckles and all those like him had to go through.

[Pete]

1,000 per day. That's the number of WW II vets passing each day.

Korea is right behind - and the numbers of VN vets passing is starting to grow.

That old man sitting in the park enjoying the sun just might have a few stories to tell.

[incommin]

Fox news, for the past three days, has been saying the VA says there are three (3) remaining WWI vets left.......


Jim

[bravo22b]

In the full text of the article, the author notes that there are two other veterans still alive who were in basic training at the end of WW I, but that Mr. Buckles is last one he knows of who was in combat during the war.

While I was watching Ken Burns' documentary "The War" a few weeks ago, my wife found a copy of a book that had been published of my great-uncle's letters home from the Pacific in WW II. I hadn't seen it in years, but it was a funny coincidence to find it while watching footage of Guadalcanal. I never knew my great-uncle well (he's dead), and my grandfather died when I was very young, so I never got a chance to talk to either of them about their lives and time in the service.

It's been said many times, but it's a real shame to lose these great veterans and their experiences.

[Ret10Echo]

Oldest U.S. WWI Vet Dies in Ohio at 109

December 21, 2007 - 10:03am

TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) - J. Russell Coffey, the oldest known surviving U.S. veteran of World War I, has died. The retired teacher, one of only three U.S. veterans from the "war to end all wars," was 109.

Coffey died Thursday at the Briar Hill Health Campus in North Baltimore, where he had lived for the past four or five years, said Gaye Boggs, nursing director at the nursing home. No cause of death has been determined, she said Friday. His health began failing in October.

More than 4.7 million Americans joined the military from 1917-1918. Coffey never saw combat because he was still in basic training when the war ended.

The two remaining U.S. veterans are Frank Buckles, 106, of Charles Town, W.Va.; and Harry Richard Landis, 108, of Sun City Center, Fla., according to the Veterans Affairs Department. In addition, John Babcock, 107, of Spokane, Wash., served in the Canadian army and is the last known Canadian veteran of the war.

Coffey once confided to his daughter, Betty Jo Larsen, that he wished people would remember his contributions rather than his old age. "He told me 'even a prune can get old,'" she said last spring. She died in September.

Coffey had enlisted in the Army while he was a student at Ohio State University in October 1918, a month before the Allied powers and Germany signed a cease-fire agreement. He was discharged a month after the war ended.

His two older brothers fought overseas, and he was disappointed at the time that the war ended before he shipped out. But he told The Associated Press in April 2007: "I think I was good to get out of it."

Born Sept. 1, 1898, Coffey played semipro baseball in Akron, earned a doctorate in education from New York University, taught in high school and college and raised a family.

He delivered newspapers as a youngster and would read the paper to immigrants, his daughter said. "That was the beginning of him being a teacher," she said.

Coffey returned to Ohio State University after he left the Army and received two degrees there.

He said he loved teaching. "I could see results," he said. "I could see improvement."

He taught junior high and high school in Phelps, Ky., and Findlay. He then taught physical education at Bowling Green State University from 1948 until 1969.

He had a remarkable memory and was independent, his daughter said. He drove his car until he was 104, and lived in his own home until a year later. He was a swimmer and credited healthy eating and exercise for his longevity.

His wife, Bernice, whom he married in 1921, died in 1993.

[Team Sergeant]

Rest in Peace Mr. Coffey.

Say hello to my Grandpa for me.;)

Team Sergeant

[SF_BHT]

TS
My mothers father was a medic also in the Big War.... He died before I was born. I have all his kit, mask, etc from back then. His diary is very interesting.

[Scimitar]

That old man sitting in the park enjoying the sun just might have a few stories to tell.

This past Veterans Day my wife and I had the pleasure of being invited back to the local legion after the morning ceremony. I ended up sitting at a table with a bunch of old fellas and as they slowly left only a retired Colonel and I remained.

I spent the next 4 hours saying hardly anything and receiving the best lesson I've ever received. His comments about what makes a good NCO...you could write a book on it.

This gentleman is a Korean Vet a Vietnam Vet and the Army pulled him back in for Desert I.

Amazing man; it was a privilege that he took the time to share.


Scimitar

[Gypsy]

RIP Mr. Coffey.

[brianksain]

Cool pic TS.

I can see the resemblance there!

Mine and I are the same.

Ain't no doubt which sack of nuts I came from ...

[sofmed]

Incredible story. Incredible man! Would that we all could live such a fulfilling and positively influential life. 109? Amazing. Thanks for sharing. :)

[swpa19]

Happy Belated Birthday Mr. Buckles.

http://www.philly.com/philly/hp/news_update/20090201__Our_last_living_link__to_WWI.html

[Saoirse]

Happy Belated Birthday Mr. Buckles.

http://www.philly.com/philly/hp/news_update/20090201__Our_last_living_link__to_WWI.html

WOW! Happy Birthday, Mr. Buckles!!!!

I had the privilege of meeting a WWI nurse when I lived in NYC. She was in a Veterans Home and we did charity functions there every year. She was amazing, sharp as a tact and flirted with all the "young men" I was there with. She had some pretty interesting stories to tell. Nothing like "living history", nothing like it at all.

[bravo22b]

Washington (CNN) -- At 108 years old, Cpl. Frank Buckles said Thursday he hopes he lives to see the day when there's a memorial on the National Mall honoring all Americans who fought in World War I.

Buckles, the last surviving U.S. veteran of the war that ended in 1918, came to Capitol Hill in support of legislation to pay tribute to his comrades.

Lawmakers are considering whether to help fund a national rededication of an old city monument already on the Mall or to forgo such support in favor of a monument project under way in Kansas City, Missouri.

Last year, Buckles visited the District of Columbia's World War I Memorial. In his wheelchair and bundled against the cold, he slowly toured the overgrown site and noted the names engraved along the gazebo's marble walls are only of those who hailed from the District of Columbia.

He also saw the rundown condition of the 1930s monument and became determined to symbolically lead a drive to restore the structure and support making it a national memorial.

Lawmakers on Thursday, after noting the move to put a site in Kansas City, gave the old Army "doughboy" his chance to say why the nation's capital would be the better location.

"The memorial [on the Mall], it's an excellent idea!" he told lawmakers.

When he visited the District of Columbia memorial a year ago, Buckles said he did not expect to become the last man standing, the one left to represent Americans those who fought in World War I.

"I have to," he told CNN, "because I'm the last living member of Americans" who fought in what at the time was called The Great War.

Buckles was brought to Capitol Hill for his testimony from his family's farm in West Virginia, and he met with senators and well-wishers before the hearing.


Thanks again, CPL Buckles. Still watching out for his fellow soldiers at 108.:lifter

[dadof18x'er]

I know that the NY Times is mostly a liberal rag, but even they have some good stuff occasionally:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/12/opinion/12rubin.html





I don't know whether that is the literal truth, but it is still shocking. I can't imagine realizing that you might be the last of such an important (and large) group left alive. My grandfather served in WW I, and he has been dead for 31 years.

I wonder how many people in this country even appreciate what Mr. Buckles and all those like him had to go through.

Great post!! thanks for sharing:lifter

[Ret10Echo]

I wonder how many people in this country even appreciate what Mr. Buckles and all those like him had to go through.

Anyone who has had the privelege of walking the cratered ground in the Verdun or Meuse-Argonne areas...seen the photos in the museums and looked at the bones of 300,000 unknowns under the Ossuary can get the first inkling of the scope.

But as we all know, any reflection or historical review will never approach the memories of those who walked the ground in real time.

Thank you Mr Buckles.

R10