How to Pronounce Frank Buckles
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Feb 01, 1901 Bethany, Missouri, United States Died on 27 Feb 2011 (aged 110)
United States Army soldier and centenarian
AquariusFrank Buckles - Place of Birth, Date of Birth, Age, Wiki, Facts, Net Worth, Birthday, Biography and Family
Frank Buckles, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Family, Facts, Age, Net Worth, Biography and More in FamedBorn.com
About Frank Buckles
- Frank Woodruff Buckles (born Wood Buckles, February 1, 1901 – February 27, 2011) was a United States Army corporal and the last surviving American military veteran of World War I.
- He enlisted in the U.S.
- Army in 1917 at the age of 16 and served with a detachment from Fort Riley, driving ambulances and motorcycles near the front lines in Europe. During World War II, just one month before his 41st birthday, he was captured by Japanese forces while working in the shipping business, and spent three years in the Philippines as a civilian prisoner.
- After the war, Buckles married in San Francisco and moved to Gap View Farm near Charles Town, West Virginia.
- A widower at age 98, he worked on his farm until the age of 105. 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 awarded the World War I Victory Medal at the conclusion of that conflict, and the Army of Occupation of Germany Medal retroactively following the medal's creation in 1941, as well as the French Legion of Honor in 1999.
- His funeral was on March 15, 2011, at Arlington National Cemetery, with President Barack Obama paying his respects prior to the ceremony with full military honors.
