Last US World War I Veteran Dies

I knew it would happen, and with Frank Buckles' health issues the last several months, I knew he was near the end of his life, but even then, it is sad as we have lost our last living connection to that long-ago war. Frank Buckles, 110, died February 27th.

He is the last of our "Doughboys," the 4.7 million who fought in the war and had been active in the last years of his life in attempting to have a national memorial in Washington, DC.

He was born in Oklahoma and, even though just 16, made several attempts to join the military after the United States got into World War I, before finally convincing an army captain that he was of age.

After the war, he returned to Oklahoma and then lived in Canada before moving to New York City where he got into the shipping business. At the outbreak of World War II, he was in the Philippines and captured by the Japanese and spent the rest of the war in prison, even though he was a civilian.

I have been following Mr. Buckles a lot on my history blog at http://cootershistorything.blogspot.com.

Go to it and click on Frank Buckles' label.

My great uncle and both grandfathers were in World War I.

The End of a Great Generation. --RoadDog