Frank Buckles: America's last World War I veteran

At 107 years old, Frank Woodruff Buckles is the last living American World War I veteran. He enlisted in the Army when he was 16 years old and says he feels responsible for keeping the story of World War I alive.

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[nexlarx]

"Did you ever expect to live this long?"

.

"Yes."

.

"I knew I would."

That was awesome!

I'm almost entirely certain he could fight in World War III and still kick ass.

[TastyPandaMeat]

Mr. Buckles, Rest In Peace "Over There"

[The73slapshot]

sadly he is dead RIP

[mjordan1998]

He lived through a pretty incredible century, by the far the most change human kind has ever gone through. My generation though is gonna see some way crazier change. I'll be his age with a hot female talking robot and will take pills that give me a 25 year olds body with microchips floating around my brain helping out my neurons and ish

[sirklondike303]

He lived in Charlestown, west virginia...I live about 50 miles away...a few days after I made it a goal of mine to meet him and talk to him...he died -__- R.I.P.

[Teaohdede]

R.I.P. Frank Woodruff Buckles

February 1, 1901-February 27, 2011

[gjc82071]

@Gunny761 When I think of what these people have experienced over the course of their lifetime, it's mind boggling. From witnessing the birth of aviation, to the moon landing & ISS (+ civil aviation). From when "radio" was still a technological marvel, to it being in every home, to TV, then computers, home PC, internet, etc. From literally dying of a simple infection, to penicillin, to stem cells. From still seeing wide spread use of horses, to "traffic jams". It's actually hard to fathom.

[Gunny761]

@gjc82071 Florence Green was a member of the Women's Royal Air Force and worked as an officer's mess steward. She obviously didn't see combat, but did serve in the military nonetheless. Mr. Choules was the last combat veteran. As far as I can tell, there are no American World War I-era veterans left, though I was unable to see how long ago the last Mexican Expedition member died. However, there is a man named Jozef Kowalski living in Poland who did serve in the Polish-Soviet War of 1919.

[gjc82071]

In the not too distant future, we will be remembering the last WW2 vet. THAT generation truly earned the name "The Greatest Generation". The absolute youngest a WW2 vet could currently be, is around 81-83yo, assuming they were only 15-17 in 1945. (give or take a year or 2 if they had sneaked into the military while underage) So in 20-25yrs, they'll nearly all be gone. Then the Korean war vets soon after, then Vietnam, etc. It's weird/touching when the "last" of something is gone/dies.

[gjc82071]

@Gunny761 Who? Obviously somebody associated with WW1....was she a nurse? I couple years back I heard on NPR an interview with a former soldier who didn't actually "fight" in WW1, but was in the cavalry during that time & partook in the Mexican/Pancho Villa Expedition. Forget his name/not sure if he's still alive.