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2011/02/28 07:11:35
Subject: Last US WWI Veteran Dies- Passing of an Era
A death that heralds an end to the living memory of America further probing beyond its shores.
Be thankful to those who have served, and if you feel so, thank a veteran of a war directly. The WWII veterans are ancient relics of our past, and one day will dwindle to nothing like those of World War I.
I never met Frank Buckles, the last American veteran of World War I, who died at 110-years-old in his sleep early Sunday at his farm in West Virginia.
Nonetheless, I feel a loss because over the past 20-plus years I was drawn into a small community of people who kept track of the dwindling numbers of American veterans of “The War To End All Wars.”
My professional interest began many years ago when my wife, then a producer at CNN, worked on a project about centenarians and brought home the newspaper of an organization for World War I veterans and their families. On the personal side, my mother’s father trained as a pilot at Kelly Field in Texas but never deployed, while my father’s father served in the American Expeditionary Force in Europe, likely inhaled poison gas and served as the allied military’s legal authority in a sector of Germany (an experience he wrote about for The Sunday New York Times Magazine).
Among those most keenly devoted to the surviving doughboys has been David DeJonge, a portrait photographer from Grand Rapids, Michigan, who devoted countless hours to photographing World War I veterans and bringing attention to their stories. In recent years, DeJonge accompanied Buckles to the White House, the Pentagon, the Capitol and a small, tree-shrouded memorial to the World War I troops from the District of Columbia on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.
Others with this particular bent have included a now-retired employee of the Veterans Administration, who patiently answered my questions when it came time for my annual note on the numbers of living veterans from America’s wars; the woman who worked for another federal agency full-time but who, on her own time, ran that organization for WWI veterans until their ranks were reduced to only a few dozen; and the radio producer from Texas, who recorded interviews with several of the last survivors for a public radio special narrated by Walter Cronkite.
DeJonge is among those publicly advocating creation on the National Mall of a national memorial to World War I. Just last week in West Virginia, he announced creation of the National World War I Legacy Project, which will include a documentary DeJonge is producing about Buckles titled “Pershing’s Last Patriot.” Buckles, who enlisted at 16 and saw duty in England, France and Germany, took this cause seriously, wanting recognition not for himself but for all of those who served in that conflict.
I have written before that if we honor those who served in World War II, Korea and Vietnam on the National Mall, then similar recognition is due those of the 20th century’s first major war.
After years of decay, at long last the existing monument to the World War I troops from the District of Columbia is being cleaned up. To create a national monument, I’d like to see it expanded, perhaps with figures of soldiers peering over a trench, bayonets fixed and gas masks at the ready, ready to charge over the top.
Unfortunately, Frank Buckles did not live long enough, not even nine decades after the war ended, to see honor properly paid to his comrades. Now that he has passed, let that honor be paid in memory of this patriot.
The WWII veterans are slowly dying off as well. All that knowledge and experience will soon be gone, it's quite sad.
Yak9UT wrote:Less we forget.
Lest.
“We may observe that the government in a civilized country is much more expensive than in a barbarous one; and when we say that one government is more expensive than another, it is the same as if we said that that one country is farther advanced in improvement than another. To say that the government is expensive and the people not oppressed is to say that the people are rich.”
Adam Smith, who must have been some kind of leftie or something.
2011/02/28 07:56:30
Subject: Re:Last US WWI Veteran Dies- Passing of an Era
The experience might be gone, but let's hope the knowledge gained isn't lest history repeat itself.
The people in the past who convinced themselves to do unspeakable things were no less human than you or I. They made their decisions; the only thing that prevents history from repeating itself is making different ones.
-- Adam Serwer
My blog
2011/02/28 13:35:35
Subject: Last US WWI Veteran Dies- Passing of an Era
Wait... so, there isn't a US WWI war memorial? Or is there? Confused...
I think the Americans have a national WW1 memorial on The Mall in DC
There's a memorial on the Mall but it's the DC memorial to troops from the city, there is no national WWI memorial.
There is a rather meh National WWII memorial front and center in the Mall, I was there for Memorial Day when it opened and it was full of WWII vets, very moving.
2011/02/28 13:39:56
Subject: Last US WWI Veteran Dies- Passing of an Era
-"Wait a minute.....who is that Frazz is talking to in the gallery? Hmmm something is going on here.....Oh.... it seems there is some dispute over video taping of some sort......Frazz is really upset now..........wait a minute......whats he go there.......is it? Can it be?....Frazz has just unleashed his hidden weiner dog from his mini bag, while quoting shakespeares "Let slip the dogs the war!!" GG
-"Don't mind Frazzled. He's just Dakka's crazy old dude locked in the attic. He's harmless. Mostly."
-TBone the Magnificent 1999-2014, Long Live the King!
2011/02/28 16:10:53
Subject: Last US WWI Veteran Dies- Passing of an Era
filbert wrote:Same over here too, I think last year marked the death of the last UK veteran (from all 3 services) to have seen combat in WW1.
Yeah, Harry Patch. The Last Tommy.
I don't think we'll ever truly understand what those brave lads went through - it's just mind-boggling.
Wait... so, there isn't a US WWI war memorial? Or is there? Confused...
Harry Patch was the last person to see active service in WW1, from any nation, those who survived him were those in uniform at the time, mostly too young to serve. IIRC there is only one left now.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2011/02/28 16:14:25
n'oublie jamais - It appears I now have to highlight this again.
It is by tea alone I set my mind in motion. By the juice of the brew my thoughts aquire speed, my mind becomes strained, the strain becomes a warning. It is by tea alone I set my mind in motion.
2011/02/28 16:36:54
Subject: Last US WWI Veteran Dies- Passing of an Era
Kid_Kyoto wrote:There's a memorial on the Mall but it's the DC memorial to troops from the city, there is no national WWI memorial.
There is a rather meh National WWII memorial front and center in the Mall, I was there for Memorial Day when it opened and it was full of WWII vets, very moving.
Yeah, when I went to DC we were walking the mall and noticed this little domed... gazebo for lack of a better term. We had a look and were surprised to find it a WWI memorial. We were equally surprised how neglected it was. Glad they're going to be cleaning it up.
mattyrm wrote: I will bro fist a toilet cleaner.
I will chainfist a pretentious English literature student who wears a beret.
2011/03/01 04:15:04
Subject: Re:Last US WWI Veteran Dies- Passing of an Era
The Liberty Memorial in Kansas City is the national WWI museum. It was only recently restored, and reopened to the public. It has quite the story behind it's creation, which can be found in the "about us" section on the website below.