Frank Buckles was a United States Army soldier and the last surviving American veteran of World War I. He passed in 2011.

Every American knows about Veterans Day, but many Americans forget that on the eleventh hour, of the eleventh day, of the eleventh month, World War I came to an end. November 11 is also Armistice Day! As we lost Frank Buckles, the last surviving WWI vet, in 2011, the memory of this war becomes slightly more hazy (we will soon see this with our WWII seniors—now is a good time to document their biographies!), and it is good for the younger generations to preserve the history of our first true World War. This was, after all, the war that would shape our world and our modern history. A quote from Woodrow Wilson, from this war, still resounds with our military today:

“…we shall fight for the things which we have always carried nearest our hearts, for democracy, for the right of those who submit to authority to have a voice in their own governments, for the rights and liberties of small nations, for a universal dominion of right by such a concert of free peoples as shall bring peace and safety to all nations and make the world itself at last free. To such a task we can dedicate our lives and our fortunes, everything that we are and everything that we have, with the pride of those who know that the day has come when America is privileged to spend her blood and her might for the principles that gave her birth and happiness and the peace which she has treasured. God helping her, she can do no other.”

Let’s make sure we remember our nations great men, those who came home, and those who didn’t.

Mallory Tomei

Information and Resource Specialist
866-eskaton
www.eskaton.org

Watch our veterans tribute video.