Back "in the day".
Posted on 02/05/2009 9:56:45 AM PST by nickcarraway
The last known U.S. military veteran of World War I, Frank Buckles turns 108 today.
He was just 16 in 1917 when the United States entered the war against Germany. He enlisted with the Army, lying that he was unable to produce his birth certificate.
In December 1917, he sailed for Europe. He worked as a military driver and never saw combat - “not close,” he said - but he was in the war theater. He was a corporal when he got home.
He’s still in good health - “for a man my age,” as he put it - and lives with his daughter and son-in-law in the farmhouse he bought more than 50 years ago.
The national World War I veterans group, of which he is the commander and sole member, used to publish a newsletter. Each issue counted down the number of old doughboys - there once were almost 5 million - still alive. As the number got smaller and smaller, “I realized I’d be one of the last,” he said, “but I never thought I’d be ‘the last.’ ”
He grinned slowly and added, “Of course, if it has to be somebody, it might as well be me.”
This guy lied about his BC in order to defend The Constitution, while our current CIC lies about his in order to circumvent it. How far we have fallen.
I’d LOVE to hear Mr. Buckles opinion of the “Messiah”.
God Bless this man, we need more like him today.
It’s the soldier, not the reporter who has given us freedom of the press.
It’s the soldier, not the poet, who has given us freedom of speech.
It’s the soldier, not the campus organizer, who has given us the freedom to demonstrate.
It’s the soldier, not the lawyer, who has given us the right to a fair trial.
It’s the soldier who salutes the flag, serves under the flag and whose coffin is draped by the flag, who gives the protestor the right to burn the flag.
~~ Father Dennis Edward O’Brien, USMC
I salute you Sir.
Read later.
Speaking of long-living individuals, the Pittsburgh area has a widow of a WW I veteran, Mrs. Agnes Wetzel, who turned 109 this past year.
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