Susannah Buckles Flanagan (daughter) James C. Buckles (father) Theresa J. Buckles (mother) Robert Buckles (English ancestor, b. 1702) Navy Lt. Robert Buckles (Distant relative)
Signature
Frank Woodruff Buckles (born Wood Buckles, February 1, 1901 – February 27, 2011) was a United States Armycorporal and the last surviving American military veteran of World War I. He enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1917 aged 16 and served with a detachment from Fort Riley, driving ambulances and motorcycles near the front lines in Europe.
In his last years, he was honorary chairman of the World War I Memorial Foundation. As chairman, he advocated the establishment of a World War I memorial similar to other war memorials in Washington, D.C. Toward this end, Buckles campaigned for the District of Columbia War Memorial to be renamed the National World War I Memorial. He testified before Congress in support of this cause, and met with President George W. Bush at the White House.
Buckles was born to James Clark Buckles, a farmer, and Theresa J. Buckles (née Keown) in Bethany, Missouri, on February 1, 1901.[3][4] He had two older brothers, Ashman and Roy, and two older sisters, Grace and Gladys.[5][6] Several family members lived long lives; he remembered speaking with his grandfather who was born in 1817, and his father lived to be 94.[7] His ancestry included soldiers of the Revolutionary and Civil Wars.[8] His lineage goes back to Robert Buckles, born May 1702, who immigrated to the United States from England. Robert's descendants served in every major war since the American Revolutionary War including the American Civil War, World War I, World War II, and the Vietnam War. Frank Buckles is also a distant relative of a NavyLieutenant named Robert Buckles, who in 2011 was stationed at the Naval Submarine Learning Center, Naval Submarine Base New London.[9]
In 1903, Frank—then known as Wood—and his brother Ashman contracted scarlet fever.[10] Frank survived, but Ashman died from the disease aged four.[10] Between 1911 and 1916, Buckles attended school in Walker, Missouri.[11] Later, he and his family moved to Oakwood, Oklahoma, where he continued his schooling and worked at a bank.[8][12] He was an amateur wireless operator, and an avid reader of newspapers.[13]
World War I and interwar years
Five months after the American entry into World War I, Buckles sought to enlist in the armed forces. He was turned down by the Marine Corps for being too small, and by the Navy, which claimed that he had flat feet.[14] He fared better with the Army, which accepted that he was an adult even though he looked no older than his 16 years.[15][16] A sergeant advised that a middle initial would be helpful, so he adopted his uncle's name, "Frank Woodruff Buckles".[10] Another sergeant suggested that the quickest way to the front lines would be to seek a position driving ambulances.[12]
Frank Buckles upon his national service recruitment age 16 in 1917
Buckles enlisted on August 14, 1917, and went through basic training at Fort Riley in Kansas.[12] Later that year, he embarked for Europe aboard the RMS Carpathia, famous for rescuing the survivors of Titanic in 1912, which was being used as a troop ship.[12] During the war, Buckles drove ambulances and motorcycles for the Army's 1st Fort Riley Casual Detachment, first in England and then France.[14] He later recalled his service as a doughboy:
There was never a shortage of blown-up bodies that needed to be rushed to the nearest medical care. The British and French troops were in bad shape – even guys about my age looked old and tired. After three years of living and dying inside a dirt trench, you know the Brits and French were happy to see us "doughboys." Every last one of us Yanks believed we'd wrap this thing up in a month or two and head back home before harvest. In other words, we were the typical, cocky Americans no one wants around, until they need help winning a war.[10][17]
A belt buckle similar to the one given to Buckles by a German prisoner in 1918
Buckles saw the war's impact on malnourished children in France, and more than 80 years later he could remember helping to feed them.[18][19] After the Armistice in 1918, Buckles escorted prisoners of war back to Germany. One German prisoner gave him a belt buckle inscribed "Gott mit uns" (English: God with us), which he kept for the rest of his life.[10] Buckles was promoted to corporal on September 22, 1919.[20] Following an honorable discharge in November 1919,[1] he returned to the United States aboard USS Pocahontas.[21]
Next came a career as chief purser on cargo and passenger ships travelling to South America, Europe, and Asia.[24][25] In the 1930s, German and British passengers expressed fears about the Nazis, and military officers told him that Germany was equipping for war. Buckles witnessed antisemitism and its effects firsthand while ashore in Germany, and he warned acquaintances in Germany that their country would be brought down by Adolf Hitler, whom he encountered at a German hotel.[24][26][27] Employed at sea during the Great Depression, he forwarded an $800 Army bonus to his father who was struggling as a farmer in the Oklahoma Dust Bowl (Buckles provided these details many decades later).[28]
As a prisoner, he battled starvation, receiving only a small meal of mush served in a tin cup—a utensil he kept for the rest of his life.[35] With a weight below 100 pounds (45 kg), Buckles developed beriberi, and led fellow captives in calisthenics to counter the effects of imprisonment.[26][33] Their captors showed little mercy, but Buckles was allowed to grow a small garden, which he often used to help feed children who were imprisoned there.[24][26]
All of the captives were freed following a raid by Allied forces on February 23, 1945.[34][36] Before the war he had become fluent in German, Spanish, Portuguese, and French,[13][37] and by its end had learned some Japanese.[37]
After World War II, Buckles moved to San Francisco and married Audrey Mayo in 1946.[8][10] Eight years later, the couple bought the 330-acre (1.3 km2) Gap View Farm in West Virginia where they raised cattle.[18][38] Ancestors named Buckles had settled near Gap View Farm centuries earlier.[8]
In 1955, their only child, Susannah, was born.[38] By then, the world traveller had settled down to a life of farm activities, social events, and serving as an officer (eventually president) of the county historical society.[8][39] Audrey Buckles died in 1999, and their daughter moved back to the farm to care for him.[10]
Active centenarian
Buckles at age 107 with President George W. Bush in the Oval Office
After the start of the 21st century, Buckles continued living near Charles Town, West Virginia, and was still driving a tractor on his farm at age 103.[25] He stated in an interview with The Washington Post on Veterans' Day 2007 that he believed the United States should not go to war "unless it's an emergency".[29] He has also stated that, "If your country needs you, you should be right there, that is the way I felt when I was young, and that's the way I feel today."[40]
When asked the secret of long life, Buckles replied that being hopeful and not hurrying were key traits, adding: "When you start to die ... don't".[41] In another interview, the centenarian talked about genetics, exercise, and a healthy diet, but put "the will to survive" above everything else.[38]
Buckles was the Honorary Chairman of the World War I Memorial Foundation,[48] which seeks refurbishment of the District of Columbia War Memorial and its establishment as the National World War I Memorial on the National Mall. He was named ABC'sWorld News Tonight's "Person of the Week" on March 22, 2009, in recognition of his efforts to set up the memorial.[49] Those efforts continued, as Buckles appeared before Congress on December 3, 2009, advocating on behalf of such legislation.[44][50][51][52] He did so as the oldest person who ever testified before Congress.[24] On Armistice Day (i.e. Veterans Day) of 2010, he made a further appeal:
We still do not have a national memorial in Washington, D.C. to honor the Americans who sacrificed with their lives during World War I. On this eve of Veterans Day, I call upon the American people and the world to help me in asking our elected officials to pass the law for a memorial to World War I in our nation's capital. These are difficult times, and we are not asking for anything elaborate. What is fitting and right is a memorial that can take its place among those commemorating the other great conflicts of the past century. On this 92nd anniversary of the armistice, it is time to move forward with honor, gratitude, and resolve.[21][53]
Passage of the legislation remained in doubt, because opponents sought relocation of the proposed monument, or alternatively some benefit for the District of Columbia.[54][55] As of July 2013, U.S. Senator Pat Toomey was concerned that such a memorial would lead to the National Mall becoming "cluttered".[56] Ultimately, the World War I Memorial was approved for a nearby site,[57] with construction expected to be completed in 2024.[58]
On February 1, 2010—Buckles' 109th birthday—his official biographer, David DeJonge, announced a forthcoming documentary about him, titled Pershing's Last Patriot, described as a cumulative work of interviews and vignettes.[65][66][67] DeJonge estimated a 2011 release for the documentary,[67] and actor Richard Thomas was expected to narrate the film.[68]
In late 2010, Buckles was still giving media interviews[69] and became a supercentenarian upon his 110th birthday, on February 1, 2011.
On February 27, 2011, Buckles died of natural causes at his home aged 110 years and 26 days.[70] He was the second-oldest living man in the United States at the time of his death (114-year-old American man Walter Breuning, born in September 1896, died 46 days after Buckles).[71]
Buckles did not meet the criteria for burial at Arlington National Cemetery as he had never been in combat, but friends and family secured special permission from the federal government in 2008.[72] That was accomplished with the help of Ross Perot, who had met him at a history seminar in 2001, and who intervened in 2008 with the White House regarding a final resting place.[73]
Upon Buckles' death on February 27, 2011, President Barack Obama ordered that the American flag be flown at half-staff on all government buildings, including the White House and U.S. embassies, on the day in March when Buckles would be buried at Arlington.[74] Leading up to the March 15 funeral, the governors of 16 states likewise called for lowering their states' flags to half-staff.[nb 1]
Faculty and students at Buckles' high school in Missouri gathered to honor him on March 8, 2011.[11][98] His home church in Charles Town held a memorial service, attended by the Episcopal bishop of West Virginia, members of Buckles' family and others.[37] On March 12, 2011, a ceremony was held at the Liberty Memorial in Kansas City, Missouri, to honor Buckles and the "passing of the Great War generation".[99] The keynote speaker was former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of StaffRichard Myers.[100]
A ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery's Memorial Amphitheater Chapel preceded the interment on March 15.[101] During the ceremony prior to burial, President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden paid their respects and met with the family.[102]
Buckles' flag-draped coffin was borne to the burial plot on a horse-drawn caisson, and the folded flag was handed to his daughter by United States Army Vice Chief of Staff General Peter W. Chiarelli.[103] Buckles was buried with full military honors in Section 34, near General of the Armies John J. Pershing.[101] Reporter Paul Duggan of The Washington Post summed up the occasion:
The hallowed ritual at grave No. 34-581 was not a farewell to one man alone. A reverent crowd of the powerful and the ordinary—President Obama and Vice President Biden, laborers and store clerks, heads bowed—came to salute Buckles's deceased generation, the vanished millions of soldiers and sailors he came to symbolize in the end.[28]
In Martinsburg, West Virginia, on March 26, 2011, a candlelight vigil was held in memory of Buckles.[104] Attendees made donations for a planned statue of him in Charles Town.[105]
Above: With Defense Secretary Robert Gates in 2008 Below: Buckles' U.S. Army and French Legion of Honour ribbons
For his service during World War I, Buckles received, from the United States government, the World War I Victory Medal and four Overseas Service Bars. He also qualified for the Army of Occupation of Germany Medal due to his postwar service in Europe during the year 1919, and received that medal after it was created in 1941.[109] Buckles did not qualify for the Prisoner of War Medal, because he was a civilian at the time of his imprisonment by the Japanese.[110]
As a resident of Jefferson County, West Virginia, he was involved for many years with the Jefferson County Historical Society (including as president from 1960 to 1964). In 1981, the honor of Emeritus Officer was conferred upon him by that organization.[39]
In 2007, the United States Library of Congress included Buckles in its Veterans History Project (VHP). He conducted three oral history interviews, given when he was 100, 103, and 107 years old.[112] Information about Buckles' experiences in both world wars is available from the VHP, including a 148-minute video interview.[113]
In 2008, a section of West Virginia Route 9, which passes by his Gap View Farm home, was named in his honor by West Virginia Governor Joe Manchin.[12] The following month, Buckles received the Veterans of Foreign Wars' Gold Medal of Merit at the Liberty Memorial. Also in 2008, he sat for a portrait to be displayed at the National World War I Museum.[114] Buckles received the Scottish Rite of Freemasonry's Knight Commander of the Court of Honour (KCCH) in September 2008.[115]
In April 2021, Buckles's wish to have a memorial for World War I veterans in Washington, D.C., became true.[116] Joseph Weishaar from Fayetteville, Arkansas, who had submitted a plan to have a World War I memorial, had his plan approved and on April 16, 2021, the memorial was officially inaugurated with a flag-raising ceremony as well as military fly-over and remarks from President Joe Biden. It was hosted by actor Gary Sinise.[117][118] The ceremony was limited due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic in the city.[118] It later opened to the public.[119]
^ abcRazes, Joe (August 2009). "World Wars Winner". America in WWII; The Magazine of a People at War 1941–1945. 310 Publishing. Archived from the original on October 2, 2011. Retrieved April 13, 2011.
^Hughey, Ray (April 28, 2011). "Honor, Heroism & History". Canby Herald. Archived from the original on May 7, 2011. Retrieved April 28, 2011. Frank was working in Manila when the Japanese invaded the Philippines in 1941. He spent three years in a Japanese concentration camp after he was captured smuggling supplies to U.S. troops on Corregidor.
^Belisles, Richard (February 28, 2011). "As tributes pour in, friends remember Frank Buckles". The Herald-Mail. Schurz Communications. Archived from the original on August 11, 2011. Retrieved May 3, 2011. Amoroso said Buckles told him that Gen. Douglas MacArthur, commander of American forces in the Philippines in 1941, asked that crew members of the cargo ships remain because their ships would be needed to resupply his troops. Buckles ignored his captain's pleas to leave with the ship and ended up being captured, Amoroso said.
^Fish, Robert B. (Winter 2011). "Frank Buckles: Distinguished Patriot". The SAR Magazine. 105 (3). Sons of the American Revolution: 22–23. ISSN0161-0511.
