Posted on 02/06/2005 6:21:38 PM PST by Former Military Chick
The 20th--and last--name will soon be inscribed near the statue of a soldier that sits on the north end of the cemetery in Anna, Ill., a monument to the city's World War I veterans.
The name belongs to Warren V. Hileman, laid to rest Friday with full military honors under an unusually warm February sky in southern Illinois.
State officials say Hileman, 103, was the state's last veteran from the World War I era, a soon-to-be extinct group now estimated at less than 100 nationally.
"It marks the end of an era of World War I veterans," Roy Dolgos, director of the state's Department of Veterans' Affairs, told those gathered for the funeral. "It is highly unlikely that we will see another World War I veteran in Illinois."
Hileman joined the U.S. Army in 1919, just after the end of World War I. He served with the American Expeditionary Force in Siberia from September 1919 to March 1920, an invasion that continued after the Armistice sent the doughboys in Europe home.
As a member of Company B, 27th Infantry, Hileman was involved in a hostile encounter in Posolskaya, a battle that earned him the World War I Victory Medal, awarded in January 2004.
"He has seen some hard days," said Dennis Clayton, 72, a fellow resident of the veterans' home in Anna, who had heard many of Hileman's war stories. "He never flew in an airplane, but he rode in a boat all over the world."
(Excerpt) Read more at chicagotribune.com ...
Note: there are no "official" words to Taps above are the most popular.
Chicago Tribune
February 5, 2005
103-Year-Old Vet Last Of A Breed
World War I-era soldier buried; no others believed left in state, officials say By John McCormick, Tribune staff reporter
The 20th--and last--name will soon be inscribed near the statue of a soldier that sits on the north end of the cemetery in Anna, Ill., a monument to the city's World War I veterans. The name belongs to Warren V. Hileman, laid to rest Friday with full military honors under an unusually warm February sky in southern Illinois. State officials say Hileman, 103, was the state's last veteran from the World War I era, a soon-to-be extinct group now estimated at less than 100 nationally. "It marks the end of an era of World War I veterans," Roy Dolgos, director of the state's Department of Veterans' Affairs, told those gathered for the funeral. "It is highly unlikely that we will see another World War I veteran in Illinois." Hileman joined the U.S. Army in 1919, just after the end of World War I. He served with the American Expeditionary Force in Siberia from September 1919 to March 1920, an invasion that continued after the Armistice sent the doughboys in Europe home. As a member of Company B, 27th Infantry, Hileman was involved in a hostile encounter in Posolskaya, a battle that earned him the World War I Victory Medal, awarded in January 2004. "He has seen some hard days," said Dennis Clayton, 72, a fellow resident of the veterans' home in Anna, who had heard many of Hileman's war stories. "He never flew in an airplane, but he rode in a boat all over the world." In the 1950s and 1960s, Hileman lived in Waukegan and worked as a security guard at the veterans hospital in North Chicago, according to his grandson, Chris Hardin. He moved back to his native southern Illinois in the mid-1970s, along with his wife, Mae, who died in 1989. Hileman always had stories about the cold in Siberia. "He told us it was so cold that when they were standing in line for their food, it would freeze right on their plates," said Dolgos. At the veterans home, Hileman was known for reading the newspaper every day. His daughter, Janet Hardin, said she believes his lifelong curiosity is what kept him alive so long. "He always wanted to see what was over the next hill," she said.
Hileman joined the U.S. Army in 1919, just after the end of World War I. He served with the American Expeditionary Force in Siberia from September 1919 to March 1920, an invasion that continued after the Armistice sent the doughboys in Europe home.
FMCDH(BITS)
I used to sit with a WWI vet and his wife when we occasioned the Phoenix Giant baseball games back in the 70's. Dick and Jackie were both in their 80's then. They met while both were in the military. He was an officer and she was employed in some position in the military.
After the war they had a chicken farm in California but lost it when a disease went through the entire flock.
He would reminisce of the days in Europe (old Europe) and get a tear when he thought of friends long gone.
I was a kid in my 30's and I think he enjoyed having an audience that truly appreciated what he had done for this country.
I cried when I heard he had passed away just as I cry now in rememberance!
Bump
That`s amazing. I can`t believe there are still WW1 vets around. My Grandfather was Scottish and fought in it, but he died in 1983 at the age of 85. He lied about his age to get in the army. He was 16 and they found out, sent him back and he got in the next year. I can`t imagine anyone younger than 100 alive today who was in that war, unless they were 10 year old kids. He called it the great war, and never ever talked about his own personal experiences. I remember his friend who was in it as well had half a foot, and he use to show it to me when I was a kid. He would take off his shoes and socks and all he had was a heel and half a foot.
Bump to the great story!
The passing of a 103 Vet **PING**
What an honor to have this opportunity to thank this man for his service to our country.
Wow
Note that Hileman didn't join the Army until 1919 and actually wasn't involved in what we understand as WW I at all.
Instead, he served in the expeditionary force that was sent to Siberia after Armistice Day -- in an attempt to stabilize Russia in the wake of defeat and post-war revolution.
I imagine that most of the other hundred-or-so survivors of WW I were comparative youths who also saw service in Russia, post-Armistice.
My grandfather was from Northern Ireland, and he lied about his age to get in the army, too. He was only 15, and the youngest of 13 kids. His mom showed up at the training camp after a week, with his birth certificate, and took him home.
According to my mother (Pops died when I was only 2), he used to say he was never happier to see anyone in his life, than he was to see his mother come to get him out of the army!
My grandfather died in 1993. He was a Missouri farm boy who volunteered for service in WWI by lying about his age. He got as far as Goat Island before the war was over.
He subsequently went to the Naval Academy and then married above his station. The night of Pearl Harbor, he volunteered. Since he was a fairly old man at the time (approaching 40), the Navy had him teaching ROTC. He wanted to do something more and volunteered for combat.
He was on the Bunker Hill as damage control officer during the battle of Okinawa. He was the oldest man on the ship. If you have ever seen Victory at Sea, that is the Bunker Hill with the massive plume of smoke coming off the flight deck.
He put on a breather mask, went below and formed a human chain to bring men out. And then worked to keep the ship afloat until they reached Bremerton.
He would be 104 now if he were still alive. I miss him very much.
Wow that`s something. My Grandfather came from a big family too, 9 kids. His father was a drunk though who use to beat him which was why he wanted to join the Army, but he was found out then the next year he got in at 17. I think 17 they considered kids old enough and would turn the other cheek and let them in.
When I was 17 and acting like a brat he use to get mad at me and say "When I was your age I was dodging bullets!" ha ha! It was so true though. He ended up being a Pipe Major in the Queens own Cameron Highlanders and I think he use to actually play pipes when they went into battle. I think he took up the pipes so he wouldn`t get shot, and he never was.
He was a very private guy and would NEVER ever talk about his time in the Army, but my mother knew he went through a hell of a lot of stuff. She told me he was down in India and almost died from malaria. He retired from the Army at 40 and worked as a security gaurd in Scotland, and spent his spare time writing pipe music and making reeds for pipers, then he went fulltime making reeds until he died in 1983 on Long Island.
After his wife died (my Grandmother) he moved to the US to live with us in the early 1970`s, which proved to be a disaster because you can imagine what it was like for this serious military man living with spoiled brats going through puberty (me and my brothers). Daaamn, to this day I feel guilty as hell for the way I acted around him. He would rarely talk, sometimes it was like some strange man living with us sometimes, and you know how kids act when someone is very serious around them, they see how far they can push things. I really think he was like that because he was traumatized in some way from that war and withdrew.
Amazing story though, but quite sad really why he never opened up. My mother has tons of music he wrote for the bagpipes and he always refused to let them be published or let anyone see them. I think that war was a lot more traumatic for vets than any other.
Liberty Memorial.. WW1 National Monument.. Kansas City, MO..
http://www.libertymemorialmuseum.org/
Thanks for the ping!
The moment I saw Bunker Hill, I knew where you were going. Those pictures, in Victory at Sea, Life magazine, National Geographic, et al are very memorable.
How they kept wrecks like Bunker Hill and the Franklin afloat, much less got them home to drydock, is beyond my understanding.
Your grandfather sounds like he was something special. No wonder you miss him.
I don't know which one it was that he was gassed at, but from what I understand, it was Mustard Gas..
He was severely burned on the skin, neck, arms, face, back, etc.. they were unprepared for gas, and had no protective suits at all.
The worst was that he inhaled the gas..
He lost one lung completely.. for the rest of his life, his remaining lung was only about 60% effective..
The dry winter air would usually put him in the hospital with the first hard freeze, and he would usually remain there, on oxygen until the spring rains came..
He too, was only 17 or 18 on joining the army infantry..
I think he was barely 60 years old when he died in his sleep..
He was a very quiet man, who never talked about the war, at least to me..
But every 4th of July, he would wake me at the break of dawn, and we would slip out of the house, go into the pastures, and blow up stumps with dynamite..
He thought it was great fun..
I too, miss my grandfather...
That is very interesting! It reminds me of my own grandfather.
He served in the British Army as well, in the "Cast Iron Sixth" (6th City of London Rifles regiment.) They fought alongside Scottish and Canadian regiments in Flanders, in some very well-known battles such as Passchendaele and Polygon Wood. So did many units of the Cameron Highlanders, and it is quite plausible that my Granddad heard yours playing the pipes on the day of battle.
After the war, Granddad could never tolerate the sound of bagpipes. Told my dad it reminded him too much of the times they went "over the top".
The Scotsmen would send an unarmed piper over first. The noise supposedly scared the Germans half to death because they knew it would be followed by a wave of "Ladies from Hell", as they called the fierce kilt-clad Scots. But whether out of chivalry or superstition, the Germans never deliberately targeted the piper.
Passchendaele was as loathsome as war has ever been, but I guess if you were a piper you had a marginally better chance than the rest of the poor cannon fodder. I suppose I'm lucky to be here.
-ccm
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