Last Veteran’s Day, this piper played Taps at the Tahoma National Cemetery, the only national cemetery in Washington State, during the ceremonies to honor the men and women who have given so much to ensure we are free citizens in a democratic country, the United States of America. This evening the news reported that the last American World War I veteran died today, his name was Frank Buckles, he was 110 years old.
He lied about his age to enlist in the U.S. Army to fight during WWI and was a driver in England, France and Germany. He also served in the U.S. Army during World War II and spent three years in a Japanese concentration camp. His passing seemed a momentous event, the last man. My father was a World War II U.S. Army veteran who passed away in 1999 and is buried at Tahoma National Cemetery, his generation is passing away at a rate of over 1,000 per day, someday soon, there will be the last man left from his generation as well. Thank you Mr. Buckles for your service to those of us who have come along behind you.
Ah, bagpipes – nothing can compare to the sound! Nice portrait!
It is to some extant the end of an era, not so very long ago there were many WW1 veterans like my maternal grandfather who was in the British army at the Battle of Passchendaele on the western front, was gassed and sent back to blighty, where he was nursed by a young girl who became my granny. Today here in the UK there are two survivors, neither of whom I had heard of, though one now lives in Australia.
As a veteran myself, though of a very different era, I saw a military funeral cortege here in Yorkshire 4 days back for a young man who gave his life for a comrade in Afghanistan. Not the same I know but some things never change, honour, duty and courage. Men like the young paratrooper and Frank Buckles had it in spades. I salute them both. Paul @ Leeds daily photo
Thanks Paul for your thoughtful comment…