Chris Higgins
The Last Living American Veteran of WWI
by Chris Higgins - December 22, 2009 - 1:42 PM

Frank Woodruff Buckles is the last living American veteran of World War I; he’s now 108 years old. He was only 16 when he enlisted, but lied about his age to Army recruiters. He drove ambulances in England and France, and escorted prisoners of war back to Germany after peace came. But WWI wasn’t the only conflict that hit him. According to Wikipedia:

In the 1940s Buckles worked for a shipping company in Manila, Philippines. He was captured by the Japanese in 1942 and spent the next three and a half years in the Los Baños prison camp. He became malnourished, with a weight below 100 lb, and developed beriberi, yet led his fellow inmates in calisthenics. He was rescued on February 23, 1945.

Since the mid-50′s, Buckles has been living on a 200-year-old farm in West Virginia near Shenandoah Junction. Here’s a short film by Sean Dunne featuring an interview with Buckles, as he talks about his experience in World War I. The pace is slow (as you’d expect from a centenarian), but I found this little film riveting — it’s fascinating to hear what a man of such great age (and presumably at least somewhat commensurate wisdom) has to say.

Representative quote: “When I came back, the parades were all over. Nobody gave a damn. I tried to buy a pack of cigarettes; couldn’t buy it — I wasn’t old enough.”

Buckles from Sean Dunne on Vimeo.

See also: List of last surviving World War I veterans by country. The oldest living WWI veteran in the world is John Babcock from Canada, aged 109.

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Comments (15)

  1. Wow. That was really neat. My grandfather was a veteran of World War II, and a flight instructor during the Korean and Vietnam Wars. I really wish he knew how to navigate the web so I could send this link to him!!

    posted by Tamsyn on 12-22-2009 at 2:09 pm

  2. Wow, that was really amazing! Its a tragedy that people like Mr. Buckles go unnoticed for so long, they have so much wisdom they could share with the world.

    posted by Chris on 12-22-2009 at 2:42 pm

  3. Thanks for posting this- it’s amazing. Loved it!

    posted by ann on 12-22-2009 at 3:07 pm

  4. Older world citizens are the caretakers of most of our relevant history.

    Far too many times , They are ignored and even mistreated.

    It might be strange to many people , but every time I hear the song , Dust in the Wind , I think of the knowledge we’ve lost – for lack of listening to the stories of our older citizens.

    Thanks for the story. I will now spend the rest of my evening reflecting on my grandparents – who have passed.

    They to shared stories , and the timeless moments we shared will always be treasured.

    posted by David Smith on 12-22-2009 at 3:48 pm

  5. Thank you for making this available.
    I’d like to add: Frank Buckles, thank you for your service and for sharing your experiences.

    posted by diane on 12-22-2009 at 4:20 pm

  6. Just thought I would post this. Check out his facebook page. WWI vets do not have a memorial.

    http://sq-al.facebook.com/group.php?gid=33974746413

    posted by doesn't matter on 12-22-2009 at 5:04 pm

  7. I can’t view the video from work, but I wouldn’t leap to the immediate assumption that age, even great advanced age, automatically equals wisdom. It’s too easy a leap.

    posted by Jeff in Mpls on 12-22-2009 at 5:36 pm

  8. @Jeff in Mpls- I think you are probably in your 20′s or 30′s, and haven’t actually gained much of your wisdom, yet. No-one is saying that all people who reach their 90′s are rocket scientists because of it… Just saying you figure some things out after you’ve seen so much…

    posted by MrsArno on 12-22-2009 at 5:55 pm

  9. That was wonderful thankk you for posting it.

    posted by Bella on 12-22-2009 at 6:05 pm

  10. Absolutely beautiful, thank you for sharing.

    posted by Amber on 12-22-2009 at 6:53 pm

  11. I live about 15 min away from this guy. He’s a really cool person to talk to.

    posted by Joey on 12-22-2009 at 8:56 pm

  12. awww Joey you are very lucky. he seems like a fascinating and incredibly sweet man.

    posted by Barbara on 12-23-2009 at 3:01 am

  13. Great War – Great article. Motivated by the Christmas Truce of 1914, I have become more interested in WWI and have found the challenges that the soldiers overcame to be under appreciated. Thanks for the article and remembering.

    posted by Dave Davis on 12-23-2009 at 7:26 am

  14. very moving. sad that there’s only a handful of WW1 vets left now. Like Dave, I became interested in WW1 after hearing about the Christmas Truce. For a great read about WW1, check out “11th Month, 11th Day, 11th Hour.” It’s incredible that ANYONE survived this war.

    posted by Pete on 12-23-2009 at 8:56 am

  15. Note to the commenter who mentioned no memorial for WWI vets. Interesting, West Virginia (where Buckles lives, and where my folks live) has a Veterans’ Memorial that includes a WWI soldier, although it is a general memorial. Here’s a link to some info about it:

    http://www.appaltree.net/vet/index.htm

    My Mom wrote me this (she works at the WV state capitol, and sees this memorial every day): “Since the article was published, this sculptor has finished a statue of a generic female vet (much controversy over her uniform – old guys wanted her to have a skirt on!). This statue hasn’t been erected yet.”

    posted by Chris Higgins on 12-23-2009 at 3:29 pm

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