Britain's Final WWI Infantryman Honored at Funeral.
By Robert Barr, AP
"He was a soldier, a survivor of the trenches--and, in later years, an advocate for peace." Harry Patch only began talking about his experiences in the trenches the last few years of his long life. He was buried in Wells, England, having survived two wives and two sons. He had an honor guard from the Rifles Regiment, successor to his WWI unit.
Patch claimed he never shot a German in combat, but did shoot at the legs of a German soldier charging with his bayonet., "He called out something to me in German, I don't suppose it was complimentary, but for him, the war was over. I've often wondered whether he realized that I gave him his life. He was no more than fifteen yards away when I shot him. I couldn't miss, not with a Webley service revolver, not at that range."
Of the 8.5 million who died in the war, "Too many died. War isn't worth one life."
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