Last known American Veterans of WW I

[Toots]

WW1 VET SEARCH UPDATE 01: Here is a look at the last known living
veterans of World War I. There are only a dozen known living American
World War I veterans. For a profile of each person refer to
www.shns.com/shns/g_index2.cfm?action=detail&pk=WWIVETS-11-08-06. Their average age is
108. Those still living are:

* Lloyd Brown, 106, lives in Bethesda, Md.
* Russell Buchanan, 106, lives in Watertown, Mass.
* Frank Buckles, 105, lives near Charles Town, W.Va.
* Russell Coffey, 108, lives in North Baltimore, Ohio.
* Samuel Goldberg, 106, lives in Greenville, R.I.
* Moses Hardy, 112 or 113, lives in Aberdeen, Miss.
* Emiliano Mercado del Toro, 115, lives in Isabella, Puerto Rico.
* Antonio Pierro, 110, lives in Swampscott, Mass.
* Ernest Pusey, 111, of Bradenton, Fla.
* Howard Ramsey, 108, lives in Portland, Ore.
* Albert Wagner, 107, lives in Smith Center, Kan.
* Charlotte Winters, 109, lives in Boonsboro, Md.

Once they stood 4.7 million strong: American farm boys, factory hands
and tradesmen itchy for adventure, all called by their country to fight
“the war to end all wars.” Now, on the 88th anniversary of the
armistice that ended World War I there are not enough surviving U.S. veterans
of that defining conflict to fill a platoon. When 2006 began, an
unofficial roster of known remaining American WWI vets listed only about 24
names. , Scripps Howard News Service has confirmed that eleven months
later, those ranks have dwindled to 12. Perhaps another dozen, who joined
the armed forces after Armistice Day and served in the immediate
aftermath of the war, still live, as well. With an average age of 108, it is
unlikely these numbers will hold for long. All are pushing the envelope
of human longevity, especially Emiliano Mercado del Toro, of Isabella,
Puerto Rico, who at 115 is both the world’s oldest living man and the
longest-lived U.S. veteran in history.

In an era that seems ancient by today’s standards, many of these
vets were born under a U.S. flag with just 45 stars and have witnessed
three centuries. They have seen 19 presidents lead the nation through
seven wars. Their lives began before airplanes, radio, talking movies,
and antibiotics. Animals were a more common mode of transportation than
tin lizzies. ”They are the only generation that has gone from outhouses
to outer space,” said Muriel Sue Parkhurst Kerr, who heads what’s left
of the Veterans of World War I of the United States organization, which
once boasted 800,000 members. "The torch is quickly passing," said
retired Brig. Gen. Steve Berkheiser, executive director of The National
World War One Liberty Memorial Museum in Kansas City, Mo. The historical
collections of the Liberty Memorial Museum began years before an actual
museum building existed. Immediately after the armistice of 11 NOV 18,
a group of Kansas Citians gathered to propose a memorial to the men and
women who served in the war and to those who died. The earliest ideas
for the memorial included a museum of objects from the war.

A community-based fund-raising drive in 1919, led by the Veterans
of World War I, USA raised over $2,500,000 in less than two weeks
through public subscription in Kansas City and around the nation for a
museum. This staggering accomplishment reflected the passion of public
opinion about the Great War, which had so recently ended. The site for the
Memorial was dedicated on 1 NOV 21. The main Allied military leaders
spoke to a crowd of close to 200,000 people. It was the only time in
history that these leaders were together at one place. In attendance were
Lieutenant General Baron Jacques of Belgium; General Armando Diaz of
Italy; Marshal Ferdinand Foch of France; General John J. Pershing of the
United States; and Admiral David Beatty of Great Britain. The Liberty
Memorial Museum is located at 100 W. 26th Street, Kansas City, MO
64108-4616. It is open TUE thru SUN from 1000 to 1700 (1615 for the Tower) and
closed on Mondays, Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day and New Years Day.
The Liberty Memorial Museum is free to the public on Memorial Day and
Veterans Day and on other days tickets cay be purchased in the Museum
Store. For additional info on WW1 or the museum refer to
www.libertymemorialmuseum.org. article 9 Nov 06 ++]

[tritsofme]

1. The Lost Generation will soon be lost to history.

nt

[rockymountaindem]

2. This makes me sad to read

So much history is passing away with these individuals. Peace be with them when they go to see their comrades :patriot:

Edit:
This also makes me wonder what people will say about me if I live to be 100. The changes that will take place over the next 80 years will certainly be mind boggling I'm sure. So, on my 100th birthday, they'll tell everybody "This old guy was born in 1986! That was before the internet and... (Lord knows what else will go here)". It's kind of wierd to have the current generation of centigenarians put that in perspective. We should all be so fortunate to live that long.

[MADem]

3. Wow....the last fighters of the "War to End All Wars." We still haven't learned, have we? K/R nt

[ulysses]

4. my dad's dad fought on the western front

and mom's dad was an ambulance driver there. All best to these remaining vets of the War.

[Cooley Hurd]

5. I remember them marching in the Memorial Day parade when I was a kid...

...and my Grandfather was one of them. If he were alive today, he'd be 111.:patriot:

Sad that were down to so few of them now...:(

[Tom Joad]

6. We should honor those Americans who went to prison rather than kill and die

for that insanity.
Eugene Debs, Presente!

[Deep13]

7. Great grandfather was in WWI with Pershing and Truman.

He died in the early 1980s. When I was small, there were still a good number of WWI verterans around, similar to WWII veterans today. My wife's great grandfather survived (barely) a gas attack in the British Army.

[AwakeAtLast]

8. Happy to be the 5th K & R!

Totally amazing!

A kick to honor their service. I hope my Iraq War Vet. husband lives as long! :patriot:

:kick:

[progressoid]

9. About half of those were just teens at the time.

Amazing

[never cry wolf]

10. God bless my Grandpa Roy

2nd Division, American Expeditionary Force. Fought in the trenches, got gassed which probably caused his relatively early death ay age 59 from emphysema.

Came back from the war and was mostly an unemployed carpenter/cabinet maker in Chicago during the depression.

In a confession over lunch with my dad not long before he himself died I learned Gramps participated in the Bonus March on D.C. Heard Smedley Butler speak and in the 30's volunteered for the Communist Party. He even introduced my dad, then a lad, to the Communist candidate for President in 1932.

So Grampa Roy was not only an activist but a hardcore lefty activist! My dad almost whispered it to me, having lived through the red scare as an adult, but I was thrilled to hear it and am quite proud of my Gramps.

[eridani]

11. If you know one personally--get him/her in front of a tape recorder--

--ASAP! Soon all there will be will be memories. Let's save as much as we can.

[Deep13]

13. Too late for me, but I did video my wife's grandfather talking...

...about his experience in Burma in WW2 in the British Army.

[senseandsensibility]

12. I wish this article had been posted in time for Veteran's Day

I love to share this type of information with my students. I will share it anyway, but it would have been perfect for Veteran's Day. Thank you to all of these men (and all veterans) for their service to our country.

[FlaGranny]

14. My dad was

a World War I veteran. He would have been 111 years old last spring. I can't believe it's been 22 years since he's been gone. He told about he and his buddies starving in the middle of winter in France. He said they tried to find food by digging in frozen potato fields for leftover potatoes. He spoke of the beautiful night he had guard duty outside a castle in France and the sense of history there. He spoke of the voyage across the Atlantic in a troop ship and how beautiful the ocean and the night skies were as he walked around the deck in the evening before hitting the sack. He NEVER would speak about the actual war itself. I learned he was exposed to mustard gas and had lifelong problems from it. His family said he was never the same after he came back, but he was a gentle soul nonetheless. He did say he never fired his rifle for fear of killing some other kid. He was also an atheist.

My dad, a kind, gentle, sweet man who loved nature, astronomy, the sea, the sciences, and his family. He never belonged in a war.

Edit: His discharge papers say was at the horrific Meuse-Argonne Offensive. In six weeks the American Expeditionary Forces lost 26,277 killed and 95,786 wounded. I can only imagine the slaughter he witnessed. http://www.worldwar1.com/dbc/bigshow.htm

[senseandsensibility]

15. Is Charlotte Winters a woman?

She's the last one on the list. I am really surprised that there is a living world war one vet who is a woman, and not more is being made of it.