Buckles was born in Bethany, Missouri. He enlisted in the U.S. Army at the beginning of America's involvement in World War I in April 1917. Only 16 years old at the time, Buckles was asked by his recruiter to show a birth certificate. Later Buckles said of that event, “I was just 16 and didn’t look a day older. I confess to you that I lied to more than one recruiter. I gave them my solemn word that I was 18, but I’d left my birth certificate back home in the family Bible. They’d take one look at me and laugh and tell me to go home before my mother noticed I was gone. Somehow I got the idea that telling an even bigger whopper was the way to go. So I told the next recruiter that I was 21 and darned if he didn’t sign me up on the spot! I enlisted in the Army on the 14th of August 1917." Before being accepted into the United States Army, he was turned down by the Marine Corps due to his slight weight. In 1917, Buckles was sent to Europe on the RMS Carpathia, which had rescued Titanic survivors five years earlier. During the war Buckles served in England and France, driving ambulances and motorcycles for the Army's 1st Fort Riley Casualty Detachment. After the Armistice in 1918, Buckles escorted prisoners of war back to Germany. Following his discharge in 1919, he attended the dedication of the Liberty Memorial in Kansas City, Missouri, in honor of those Americans who died in World War I. While there, he met General John "Black Jack" Pershing, commander of all U.S. forces in France during the war. In the 1940s Buckles worked for a shipping company in Manila, Philippines. He was captured by the Japanese in 1942 and spent the next three and a half years in the Los Baños prison camp. He became malnourished, with a weight below 100 lb, and developed beriberi, yet led  his fellow inmates in calisthenics. He was rescued on February 23, 1945. In 1953, Buckles married and bought the 330-acre Gap View Farm in West Virginia. His wife died in 1999, and their daughter moved back to the farm to care for her father. |
| Buckles stated in an interview with The Washington Post on Veterans' Day 2007 that he believes the United States should go to war only "when it's an emergency." When asked about the secret of his long life, Buckles replied: "Hope", adding, "When you start to die... don't." He also said the reason he has lived so long is that, "I never got in a hurry." The U.S. Library of Congress included Buckles in its Veterans History Project and has audio, video and pictorial information on Buckles' experiences in both world wars, including a full 148-minute video interview. Buckles' life was featured on the Memorial Day 2007 episode of NBC Nightly News. On March 6, 2008, he met with President Bush at the White House. The same day, he attended the opening of a Pentagon exhibit featuring photos of nine surviving World War I veterans created by historian and photographer David DeJonge. Of the group, only Buckles and Canadian veteran John Babcockwere left. Babcock was unable to attend. He passed away February 18, 2010. Buckles is buried at Arlington National Cemetery. He was eligible for cremation and placement in a columbarium at Arlington, but expressed a desire for burial there, which he was not eligible for under current Arlington policy. Friends and family members took up his cause, but made no headway until a relative, Ken Buckles, contacted Ross Perot, whom Frank had met at a history seminar in 2001. Within two weeks, Perot had successfully intervened with the White House, and on March 19, 2008, Buckles received special approval for underground burial at Arlington.  Buckles was the Honorary Chairman of the World War I Memorial Foundation, which seeks refurbishment of the District of Columbia War Memorial and its establishment as the National World War I Memorial on the National Mall. Buckles appeared before Congress on December 3, 2009, advocating on behalf of such legislation. On February 1, 2010, on Buckles' 109th birthday, his official biographer announced that he will be completing a film on Buckles' life. The film is a cumulative work of three years of interviews and intimate moments gathered by DeJonge as he traveled the nation with Buckles For his service during World War I, Buckles received (from the U.S. Government) the World War I Victory Medal and the Army of Occupation of Germany Medal. In addition, French president Jacques Chirac awarded him France's Légion d'honneur. On May 25, 2008, Buckles received the Veterans of Foreign Wars’ Gold Medal of Merit at the Liberty Memorial. He sat for a portrait taken by David DeJonge that will hang in the National World War I Museum, as "the last surviving link". Buckles received the Scottish Rite of Freemasonry's Knight Commander of the Court of Honour (KCCH) on September 24, 2008. The KCCH is the last honor a freemason receives prior to the 33°. The ceremony was hosted by Ronald Seale, 33°, Grand Commander of the Scottish Rite of Freemasonry, Southern Jurisdiction, U.S.A. A keynote address was provided by James Peake, Secretary of Veteran Affairs.
Thank you to Ms. Behavin for the heads up about this wonderful hero! |
