Frank Buckles

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Frank Woodruff Buckles (born February 1, 1901 in Bethany , Missouri , † February 27, 2011 in Charles Town , West Virginia ) was the last living American participant in the First World War . At the time of his death, Buckles was the world's oldest living, confirmed World War I veteran .

Life

Frank Buckles was born to James Clark Buckles (1857–1952) and Theresa Jane Keown Buckles (1859–1936).

At the beginning of the American involvement in World War I, he was recruited for the United States Army in April 1917 . Since he was only 16 years old at the time, he only succeeded in doing this by pretending to be older. After initially failing to claim he was 18 years old, he eventually succeeded with another recruiter by pretending to be 21. He had previously applied to the United States Marine Corps , where it was rejected due to its low weight. In 1917 Buckles was sent to Europe on the RMS Carpathia . During the war, Buckles drove ambulances and motorcycles for the Army's 1st Fort Riley Casual Detachment in England and France . After the 1918 armistice, Buckles escorted prisoners of war back to Germany . After his release in 1919, he attended the dedication ceremony for the Liberty Memorial in Kansas City .

In the 1940s Buckles worked for a shipping company in Manila , Philippines . He was captured by Japan in 1942 and spent the next three and a half years in the Los Baños detention center . Buckles was malnourished and suffered from beriberi , but still instructed his fellow inmates in gymnastics . He was liberated on February 23, 1945.

In 1953, Buckles married and purchased the historic Gap View Farm in Charles Town, West Virginia, where he lived until his death. His wife Audrey Mayo Buckles died in 1999, after which the couple's daughter returned to the farm to care for her father. With the death of 108-year-old Harry Richard Landis on February 4, 2008, Buckles became the last surviving US veteran of the First World War.

Offices and honors

Buckles with Secretary of Defense Robert Gates 2008

Buckles was honorary chairman of the World War I Memorial Foundation , which is committed to the renewal of the District of Columbia War Memorial . He was a recipient of the World War I Victory Medal and the Army of Occupation of Germany Medal . The then French President Jacques Chirac named Buckles a Knight of the Legion of Honor in 2003 . In 2008 he received the Veterans of Foreign Wars Gold Medal of Merit . In 2008 a photo portrait of Buckles was also made for the National World War I Museum in Kansas City. On September 24, 2008, Buckles was named Knight Commander of the Court of Honor (KCCH) of the Scottish Rite of Freemasonry .

The Library of Congress accepted Buckles in its Veterans History Project and is providing audio, video and image files on Buckles' experiences in both world wars, including a 148 minute video interview.

On March 6, 2008, Buckles met then American President George W. Bush at the White House . On the same day, he attended the opening of an exhibition at the Pentagon showing photographs of nine surviving WWI veterans, taken by historian and photographer David DeJonge. Buckles was the last survivor of this group.

Through the mediation of the entrepreneur and politician Ross Perot , who had known Buckles personally since 2001, the US government guaranteed Buckles a burial site in Arlington National Cemetery in April 2008 under a special permit , although he met the formal requirements (holder of one of five high medals ) did not meet.

See also

The last World War I veterans in other countries included:

  • Florence Green (1901–2012), last British veteran of the First World War
  • Claude Stanley Choules (1901–2011), British veteran of the First and Second World Wars (Australian citizen from 1926)
  • Henry Allingham (1896–2009), last veteran of the Royal Navy of the First World War
  • Harry Patch (1898–2009), last British Army veteran of the First World War
  • Louis de Cazenave (1897–2008), last World War I veteran who took part in the fighting as a French citizen
  • Lazare Ponticelli (1897–2008), last veteran of the First World War in the French Foreign Legion (French citizen from 1939)
  • Franz Künstler (1900–2008), last surviving veteran of Austria-Hungary during World War I (German citizen from 1946)
  • Erich Kästner (1900–2008), last surviving German soldier of the First World War
  • Charles Kuentz (1897–2005), last surviving German soldier from Alsace during the First World War (French citizen from 1919)

Web links

Commons : Frank Buckles  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Frank Buckles, last American veteran of World War I, dies at 110. Retrieved February 28, 2011 (English).
  2. ↑ a b Luis Martinez: Last doughboy gets Presidential 'Thank You' ( English ) abcnews.com. March 6, 2008. Retrieved October 2, 2010.
  3. ↑ Erik Lander: Frank Woodruff Buckles , Fin a Grave. Retrieved January 7, 2015.
  4. ↑ Andrea Stone: One of the last ': WWI vet recalls Great War ( English ) USA Today. March 27, 2007. Retrieved October 2, 2010.
  5. ^ Matt Campbell (May 25, 2008). Last surviving link 'to World War I earns a fitting salute . ( Memento from May 29, 2008 on the Internet Archive ) The Kansas City Star. (Archive version at archive.org, accessed October 2, 2010)
  6. ^ Frank Woodruff Buckles: Veterans History Project ( English ) Library of Congress. May 29, 2007. Retrieved October 2, 2010.
  7. ↑ Bush thanks WWI veteran for 'love for America' ( English ) CNN.com. March 6, 2008. Retrieved October 2, 2010.
  8. ^ Arlington Cemetery Makes Historic Exception for World War I Veteran , in: Salem News, April 8, 2008, accessed December 30, 2011.
personal data
SURNAME Buckles, Frank
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Buckles, Frank Woodruff (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American veteran of World War I
DATE OF BIRTH February 1, 1901
PLACE OF BIRTH Bethany , Missouri
DATE OF DEATH February 27, 2011
Place of death Charles Town , West Virginia