Post by RMLI_SGT on Jun 19, 2008 7:11:49 GMT -8
www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/0619WWISurvivor0619.html
Last American WWI vet honored on Capitol Hill
Associated Press
Jun. 19, 2008 12:00 AM
WASHINGTON - One survivor saluted another on Wednesday as Robert Byrd, the longest-serving senator in history, paid tribute to Frank Woodruff Buckles, the last living American-born veteran of World War I, at the Capitol.
For a change, the 90-year-old Byrd wasn't the oldest guy in the room; Buckles is 107.
"I'm just a spring chicken!" Byrd exclaimed, gazing from his own wheelchair to Buckles in his. advertisement
Much of Washington's community of veterans packed a small parlor off the Senate floor to honor Buckles and the upcoming 90th anniversary of the armistice between the allied nations and Germany that ended the war.
They marveled at his story: Buckles got into the Army in 1917 after fibbing to a military recruiter about his age and enlisted at the start of the U.S. involvement in "the war to end all wars." He served in the United States, Britain, Germany and France.
He never saw combat and worked mainly as a driver and a warehouse clerk overseas. He rose to the rank of corporal and, after Armistice Day, helped return prisoners of war to Germany.
Buckles later traveled around the globe working for a shipping company and was in the Philippines in 1940 when the Japanese invaded. He became a prisoner of war for almost three years.
He later settled on a cattle farm in Charles Town, W.Va., where he still lives, according to his daughter.
Last American WWI vet honored on Capitol Hill
Associated Press
Jun. 19, 2008 12:00 AM
WASHINGTON - One survivor saluted another on Wednesday as Robert Byrd, the longest-serving senator in history, paid tribute to Frank Woodruff Buckles, the last living American-born veteran of World War I, at the Capitol.
For a change, the 90-year-old Byrd wasn't the oldest guy in the room; Buckles is 107.
"I'm just a spring chicken!" Byrd exclaimed, gazing from his own wheelchair to Buckles in his. advertisement
Much of Washington's community of veterans packed a small parlor off the Senate floor to honor Buckles and the upcoming 90th anniversary of the armistice between the allied nations and Germany that ended the war.
They marveled at his story: Buckles got into the Army in 1917 after fibbing to a military recruiter about his age and enlisted at the start of the U.S. involvement in "the war to end all wars." He served in the United States, Britain, Germany and France.
He never saw combat and worked mainly as a driver and a warehouse clerk overseas. He rose to the rank of corporal and, after Armistice Day, helped return prisoners of war to Germany.
Buckles later traveled around the globe working for a shipping company and was in the Philippines in 1940 when the Japanese invaded. He became a prisoner of war for almost three years.
He later settled on a cattle farm in Charles Town, W.Va., where he still lives, according to his daughter.