WWTBAM Bored

The last surviving World War I veteran, Frank Woodruff Buckles , was honored by George Bush.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/03/07/war.veteran/

I meant to answer this earlier & got way too busy!

I don't think I've ever met Mr. Buckles -- although it's certainly possible. But when I started working with the Vets, 26 years ago, there were still a lot of guys around from WWI! They were in their 80s then --about the age the WWII Vets are now. I remember one guy in particular who was a member of an all African-American unit, who had respiratory problems all his life due to exposure to mustard gas.

I even had the honor of meeting our area's last surviving Spanish-American War Vet! Sadly, I can't recall his name right now, but I'll never forget him. He was about 103 when I met him & I think he died at 105, sometime in the mid-1980s. Wow!

Back then, the WWI Vets were old guys, the WWII & Korean fellows were middle-aged, and Viet Nam was less than 10 years in the past -- those Vets were still young; some only a little older than me. Now we're all old, & the WWI generation is (almost) gone. The WWI Vets were my Grandpas & great-uncles -- and since my Grandma on Dad's side had 11 brothers, I had a bunch of great-uncles who served.

I've been looking for my Dad's WWII letter where he asks if he can have his Dad's Sgt. Stripes from WWI to wear (since my Dad had recently been promoted to that rank) -- I can't find it right now, but he closes with the feeling that "2 wars are enough, don't you think? I hope they won't ever have to be used again..."

Didn't quite work out that way, Dad.