Posted on 03/08/2011 8:25:28 PM PST by mukraker
How will they send off the Last Doughboy?
A Texas congressman who worked with the last surviving World War I veteran to try to create a national memorial to “The Great War” is calling for the late Army veteran Frank Buckles to lie in repose in the Capitol Rotunda — a setting usually reserved to honor those who have been president.
Honoring Buckles at the Capitol “is our chance to say thank you to the last of a generation,” said Rep. Ted Poe, R-Texas, who served in the Air Force Reserves in the 1970s. “It is the final legacy of those who fought ‘Over There.’”
“Frank Buckles is the last one — the last American Doughboy,” Poe said.
Buckles’ daughter, Susannah Buckles Flanagan, also has requested the additional honor for her late father who died last month at the age of 110. “If the last American soldier surviving is not suitable to serve as a symbol around which we can rally to honor those who served their country in the Great War, then who can serve that purpose?"
"There is no one left,” said Flanagan, who took care of her father at his farm in West Virginia.
The congressional leadership, headed by House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, has balked at having Buckles lie in repose in the Capitol and instead is urging the Pentagon to have Buckles’ funeral at Arlington National Cemetery’s amphitheater.
(Excerpt) Read more at startribune.com ...
THAT'S NOT GOOD ENOUGH!
Please, contact your Senators and Member of Congress and express to them in the strongest possible (civil) language your thoughts concerning the honoring of ALL WWI veterans by allowing their last brother-in-arms to lay in honor in the Capitol.
Thank you.
FACEBOOK PAGES ARE UNITING ALL VETERANS AND CITIZENS STANDING FIRM FOR CAPITOL ROTUNDA HONORS REPRESENTING ALL WWI VETERANS
The Facebook page "Honor Frank Buckles Last WWI Veteran" is coordinating efforts to recognize and honor all WWI veterans.
The battle is still going strong in DC to make this happen, to have Frank Buckles lay in honor in the Capitol Rotunda.
A March on DC is now being organized. Former Senator Bob Dole has stepped forward as of yesterday to make this happen.
Veterans and supporters are urged to keep the email, faxes, and phone call to DC targeting Speaker of House and Majority Leader Reid in Senate.
It is just wrong not to honor the last survivor of any war that would be representing all others that died from a group ie World War 1 or any war re WW2, Korea, Vietnam etc.
This is not an occurrence that happens that often!
To Honor Rosa Parks but not to honor our Veterans is a slap in the face of every Veteran that ever served! It is after all the House and Senate and their votes that send us to War!
Please all keep the phone calls, emails, and faxes going.
Do your duty in all things. You cannot do more, you should never wish to do less.
Robert E. Lee
As a vet, I feel comfortable with this decision. If laying in repose in the Capitol is reserved for a Head of State, than so be it.
You cannot change tradition because it makes you feel better. Tradition is tradition!
If you change it on a feeling, it’s no longer tradition.
The Capital Bldg would have been the one getting the honor if Buckles was there anyway.
Buildings don't get honored, people do.
Thanks...I’m with you....(though not a Vet)....honoring him at Arlington seems very appropriate. THIS is just celebrating that he outlived all of his brothers/sisters, to me and creating a to do which is unneeded.
No disrespect to him but I agree with you.He wasn’t a head of state so IMHO the special ceremony at Arlington is fine with me.Do any of you have any idea how much it costs to have someone there in the rotunda and how much secuirty it takes?
There are 2 others still with us; 1 in Austraila and 1 in Great Britian.
I don’t think that the last survivors of previous wars, many of them combat veterans, were granted the honor of laying in the Capitol. I do not think that a non-combat veteran should get that honor for the World War.
The French President attended the state funeral when France’s last WWI veteran died. The Queen and Prime Minister attended a ceremony at Westminster Abbey when the last British veteran of WWI died. Why is the last US veteran of WWI not treated with the same high honor? He was the last. There are no more. This is a symbolic honor to ALL WWI veterans, not just to the man.
Rosa Parks wasn’t a head of State yet the politicians fawned and slobbered all over her when she died.
Laying in state is a term used when it’s an elected official; laying in Honor is the term for others such as Frank Buckles. There are precedents for allowing people who were not heads of state to lay in the Capitol. It is not something reserved for elected officials.
Show me the precedent.
Arlington is more suitable.
Veterans who have served honorably are already coming forward to volunteer for the honor of guarding and escorting Cpl Buckles if/when he is allowed to lay in Honor at the Capitol.
I’m for Arlington, after a long train ride across America so that we can all bow our heads as he passes on.
While my daughter was in Iraq in 2004, she got a random letter from a WWI vet from one of the support the troops associations. It’s her most prized position.
Arlington is a good place to be honored and respected. But I agree, the capitol would be good. Perhaps the wishes of his family should be taken in consideration.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.