Last Veterans Day for WW I Vets?

This 90th observance of the end of the War to End All Wars could also be the last one for the four remaining veterans of World War I who are all in their 100s.

Today, representatives of the warring countries between 1914 and 1918 are gathering at the 1916 Battle of Verdun in France where 300,000 men died over an eleven month period.

REMAINING VETERANS

Britain has three: Henry Alingham, 112; Harry Patch, 110, and Bill Stone, 108. These three men, representing the RAF, Army and Royal Navy will lead a two-minute silence at the Cenotaph National War Museum in London today.

In the US, Frank Buckles, 107, of West Virginia, is the sole remaining veteran.

Erick Kastner, the last German soldier died in January of this year at age 107. Lazare Ponticelli, the Italian-born last French soldier died in March.


CASUALTIES 1914-1918

Germany- 1.9 million
Russia-- 1.7 million
France-- 1.4 million
Austria-Hungarian Empire-- 1 million
Britain-- 760,000

Staggering Thoughts. A Salute to the Few Survivors.