|
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 ++]
|