Frank Woodruff Buckles - The Only Surviving American Veteran...

...of World War One is 109 years old (born February 1, 1901) but is still active in his pursuit of doing right by America and is a true patriot. Just yesterday, Mr. Buckles urged Congress to pass legislation to create a national memorial in Washington DC dedicated to those who fought in WWI. Can you imagine that there were 5 milion Americans who served in WWI and there is no national memorial for them? Mr. Buckles is the sole surviving American to have served during WWI out of 5 million Americans who did likewise. Now try to imagine, just for a moment, how it must feel to be the sole representative of 5 million other brave Americans and to realize that some 92 years after that war ended, our country has still not seen fit to erect a memorial to the brave soldiers, sailors, marines and airmen who served us then. I would imagine he might be frustrated and disappointed to say the least, maybe even mad as hell but one thing is for certain - he is not a quitter and has not given up the fight.

As for me, I never realized there was no national memorial in DC for those who served in WWI (shame on me). Well, here I go, once again I am about to ask you to contact your U.S. Senators and Representatives and maybe even the president. Send emails, write letters, call them on the phone and urge them to pass legislation to create, and then to actually erect, a memorial to those who served in WWI before the very last veteran of that war is gone. You can also go to the site of The WWI Memorial Foundation to make a donation to the group that is striving to have such a memorial dedicated to those who went through: The War To End All Wars. As a nation, we owe it to them, it would be right that at least one of them gets to see it done before he too is listed among the missing.

Mr. Buckles, my hat goes off to you sir. I salute you and must tell you it is an honor to realize that there are citizens in our country as patriotic as are you. Keep up the fight sir. I am hopeful that the memorial to those who served in WWI will be achieved for you to see!

All the best,
Glenn B

Note: I am not sure how timely is the following info but it is what I came across regarding WWI vets. There are only 3 surviving veterans of WWI worldwide (who joined the military before the armistice which was effected on November 11, 1918 ) and there is one WWI era survivor (who joined after the armistice but before the Treaty of Versailles was signed.) Each has their own story, see the following links. Frank Woodruff Buckles is the only WWI Veteran from the United States of America. The other two who went through the war as servicemen/woman are: Florence Beatrice Green of England born February 19, 1901 and Claude Stanley Choules of Australia born March 3, 1901). Amazingly all three are born within a month and a couple of days of one another. The one WWI era veteran is Jozef Kowalski of Poland, born February 2, 1900. He was born a year earlier than the others but it must say something for being born in February or early March. See this link for more info:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_surviving_veterans_of_World_War_I

That there is no national memorial in our nation's capital for those who served in WWI is a terrible shame. Let's get that righted. The below is the text of the emails I sent to my two senators and one representative in Congress:

"I urge you to take immediate action toward the creation of a National Memorial in Washington D.C. dedicated to those brave Americans who served in WWI. The reason I urge immediate action is because there is only a single surviving American veteran of WWI and it would be right and fitting to have the memorial legislated, budgeted and erected while he, the sole representative of so many who served in that war, is alive to see it. Frank Woodruff Buckles is that sole WWI American veteran and he is 109 years old. Surely his time on earth is short but he is still with us and still fighting for what is right and just relative to the other 5 million Americans who served in that war. I urge you to take action before it is too late, before the last surviving American Veteran of WWI is listed among the missing!"