America has lost a very special veteran. Last Sunday, Mr. Frank Buckles passed away in his sleep, at the age of 110. Of significance, beyond his extraordinary longevity, Frank Buckles was America's last remaining military member from World War I. Only two others remain in the world. Frank lied about his age to join the army at 15. As he said later: "A 15-year-old boy isn't scared of anything." Frank was assigned to drive ambulances in both England and France. Between the wars, he worked in the shipping industry, which eventually put him the wrong place at the wrong time. While handling cargo in Manila in 1941, he was captured by the Japanese, following their Philippine invasion, spending over 3-years as a POW. A life-long believer in physical fitness, he led his fellow prisoners in regular exercise sessions, building endurance which may well have helped save his life and that of many others.
Three years ago, Mr. Buckles visited the only World War I monument in Washington, the one dedicated only to D.C. soldiers who'd perished in that war. Disheartened by its run-down appearance, he began a campaign to restore it and re-dedicate it as a truly national memorial, via the newly-formed World War I Memorial Foundation, even to the point of testifying before a Senate Committee in 2009. Others will carry forward his dream.
For America, in addition to turning the tide to allied victory in World War I, that conflict marked the first time that American troops had gone overseas to "defend foreign soil against aggression." Five-million Americans served there; over 115-thousand did not return. There is a very special place in Heaven reserved for Mr. Frank Buckles, along with the millions of other men and women who've served our nation then, and through succeeding decades to the present, bravely stepping-forward to defend freedom elsewhere, while steadfastly preserving our own.
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