February 28, 201115 yr Frank Buckles passed away. He turned 110 on February 1st. http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2011/02/27/last-living-u-s-wwi-veteran-dies/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter There are only two surviving veterans of The Great War.
February 28, 201115 yr Wow, wouldn't have thought any more veterans from WWI were living. Even though he passed away, it's neat knowing that someone was still alive during 2011 from that time.
February 28, 201115 yr Author Wow, wouldn't have thought any more veterans from WWI were living. Even though he passed away, it's neat knowing that someone was still alive during 2011 from that time. Obviously very few, now just two. Pretty much all the ones who were left were fringe service during the war. I think the last trench warfare veteran passed 2 years ago.
February 28, 201115 yr Where are the remaining 2 from? I remember an article a few years ago that there were something like 4 Americans, 10 Brits, a few Frenchmen, a few Germans, and a few Australians left. Basically not many left. It's sad to see his passing, but he seemed to live a remarkable life. WWI has long been forgotten in American, likely because it didn't affect us nearly as much as it did Europe, but I was happy to see the memorial in Washington is now being refurbished.
February 28, 201115 yr 110 years old? I don't even know if I'd want to live that long. Honestly its sad. I am someone who definitely enjoys history, but I feel like I know so little about WWI. I could talk all day with you about WWII, but it just seems the Great War really wasn't focused on much at all when I was in school and it probably is less and less now.
February 28, 201115 yr Author 110 years old? I don't even know if I'd want to live that long. Honestly its sad. I am someone who definitely enjoys history, but I feel like I know so little about WWI. I could talk all day with you about WWII, but it just seems the Great War really wasn't focused on much at all when I was in school and it probably is less and less now. I would think at a bare minimum it should be discussed as it pertains to the effect it had on Germany and how that helped bring about Hitler's rise to power. I don't really recall how much school touched on either of the World Wars. Most of what I know on the subject comes from independent study. I have always found the wars fascinating. WWII probably gets more discussion because it was the last one, had social-economic impacts that lasted really through the present, and there was a lot more to study from a purely tactical point. Germany pretty much moved further in months than either side did in the whole of WWI.
February 28, 201115 yr Author Where are the remaining 2 from? Both belong to the United Kingdom. Claude Stanley Choules is 109 (will turn 110 on Thursday), lives in Australia, and served in the Royal Navy. He joined in 1916, and is the last living combatant of World War I. He is the only veteran left who served in both World Wars. He is the last living witness to the surrender of the German Navy. Florence Beatrice Green is 110 (turned 110 on February 19th), lives in England, and last female veteran. She joined in 1918 and served as a waitress for the Women's RAF.
February 28, 201115 yr Both belong to the United Kingdom. Claude Stanley Choules is 109 (will turn 110 on Thursday), lives in Australia, and served in the Royal Navy. He joined in 1916, and is the last living combatant of World War I. He is the only veteran left who served in both World Wars. He is the last living witness to the surrender of the German Navy. Florence Beatrice Green is 110 (turned 110 on February 19th), lives in England, and last female veteran. She joined in 1918 and served as a waitress for the Women's RAF. Wikipedia lists a 111 year old surviving vet from Poland as well as Choules and Green.
February 28, 201115 yr Author Wikipedia lists a 111 year old surviving vet from Poland as well as Choules and Green. That's a WWI era veteran, generally considered outside the scope of WWI.
February 28, 201115 yr 110 years old? I don't even know if I'd want to live that long. Honestly its sad. I am someone who definitely enjoys history, but I feel like I know so little about WWI. I could talk all day with you about WWII, but it just seems the Great War really wasn't focused on much at all when I was in school and it probably is less and less now. That was one of the reasons I spent so much time during undergrad studying it. I spent most of my years prior to high school and college studying WWII and parts of the American Civil War, but in college WWI and warfare in the classical era became my focuses. I think, and always have, that we blatantly ignore WWI and the overall psychological effect it had on the European consciousness prior to WWII and still to this day.
February 28, 201115 yr What do you think the reason is for this blatant ignorance PepRock? I am a big fan of history, especially US History, and even more so WWII and the Revolutionary War. But I just don't have a huge interest in WWI and I'm not sure why, but it might be because there really was no focus on it from the schools IMO. I just don't know much about it.
February 28, 201115 yr What do you think the reason is for this blatant ignorance PepRock? I am a big fan of history, especially US History, and even more so WWII and the Revolutionary War. But I just don't have a huge interest in WWI and I'm not sure why, but it might be because there really was no focus on it from the schools IMO. I just don't know much about it. I think the focus was never in schools because the U.S. came in so late. The doughboys were only in Europe for a couple years and it was almost to serve as a tipping point for ending the war. Casualties for the U.S. paled in comparison to what nations like Britain, Germany, France, and Russia suffered. And not only that, but I believe there has always been a belief that WWI was simply a preview for what was about to come with WWII. I've always thought the educational system approached it as "WWI happened, Allies fought Central Powers, Germany was defeated then rose from the ashes, then World War II happened." That's not at all fair, but fairly realistic in how it's often taught.
February 28, 201115 yr Radiohead actually wrote a pretty moving song called "Harry Patch (In Memory Of)" when Harry Patch, the last surviving British WWI vet died. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WSgh2_mXc50
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