Wednesday, October 31, 2012

America's Last World War I Veteran

From the March 8, 2011, Bangor (Maine) Daily News "Buckles, not Boehmer, deserves place in Washington, DC" by Pat LaMarche.

Frank Buckles was born shortly after the Spanish-American War ended and before radio broadcasting, assembly line production, flight and electric washing machines.  And, he lived into the computer age.

Altogether in Wold War I, there were around 25 million combat-related casualties and other factors like the 1918 flu epidemic caused even more to die.

According to the "Longman Companion to the First World War, though the U.S. involvement was great, casualties were surprisingly low.  Of 4,272,500 soldiers deployed, around 8% were killed or wounded, compared to 55% for the Russians and 75% of French troops.

The writer was not happy that Speaker of the House John Boehmer didn't think Mr. Buckles' body should lie in the Capitol Rotunda.

I Agree That Mr. Buckles' Body Should Have Been in the Rotunda As a Fitting Thank You to All That Generation Past.

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