He was known by his number while he was in the Army, but flags are flying at half-mast all across America for #15577. His name has become better-known over the past few years and especially in this week’s news.
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| Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Corporal Frank Buckles |
Frank Woodruff Buckles, the only living American veteran of World War I died this past Sunday. He had just celebrated his 110th birthday on February 1st among family and friends on his farm in West Virginia.
Born in Missouri in 1901, Frank Buckles' family had just purchased a farm and were about to move to Oklahoma. Already a hard worker with amazing initiative, at age 15 Frank talked his father into hiring him rather than a stranger, to accompany a boxcar load of draft horses and equipment from Missouri to the farm his family had bought in Dewey County, OK. Asked in an interview years later about the adventure of riding the train alone and the great responsibility given to him as a teenager, Buckles said , “A 15-year-old boy is not scared of anything."
Once the family moved, Buckles worked as a bank clerk in nearby Oakwood, OK, and lived in a hotel in order to attend high school. Well-read from a young age, he was aware of the lingering "war to end all wars" and eager to fight alongside his fellow Americans "Over There" (the title of a popular song at the time). When summer came in 1917, he traveled to Wichita, Kansas, to attend the state fair where he visited a Marine recruiting station hoping to enlist in the military. He told the officer he was 18, but was disappointed to hear he had to be 21 to enlist.
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| Frank Buckles at 16 |
"I was just 16 and didn't look a day older. I confess to you that I lied to more than one recruiter. I gave them my solemn word that I was 18, but I'd left my birth certificate back home in the family Bible. They'd take one look at me, laugh, and tell me to go home before my mother noticed I was gone. Somehow I got the idea that telling an even bigger whopper was the way to go. So I told the next recruiter that I was 21, and darnded if he didn't sign me up on the spot! I enlisted in the Army on 14 August 1917."
Buckles found an Army recruiter in Oklahoma City willing to buy his fib. He was accepted into the Army, sent to Colorado for basic training, and was soon off to Europe. He said, “I realized immediately when I arrived in England that this was a very serious situation.” Because of his work as a bank clerk, the Army planned to put him at a desk job, but Buckles fought the idea. Instead, he asked and was given permission to drive motorcycles with sidecars, transporting VIPs, guarding German prisoners, and driving ambulances in England and France.
Buckles was sent to escort an officer from England across the channel into France where he was still serving on Armistice Day, November 11, 1918. After completing an assignment to escort German POWs back to Germany, he returned to the US in 1920 upon his discharge. Back home from service, but without the educational benefits that would be available to later veterans, Corporal Buckles went to Oklahoma City, found a part-time job, and worked his way through business school learning shorthand and typing.
In 1920 General John Pershing, the American Commander in Europe during WWI, made a stop in Oklahoma City while making rounds throughout the coutnry. Buckles showed up in uniform at a reception for the General, and ironically was the only service member to attend other than Pershing's staff. Although Buckles was not a cavalry man, he carried riding gloves representing the cavalry, which Pershing, who was with the cavalry, recognized. "I gave the general a snappy salute, and he sent a sergeant after me to ask a few questions," Buckles remembered proudly. He learned that he and Pershing were born about 30 miles and 40 years apart in Missouri.
After attending business school, Buckles landed a job with the Post Office and saved enough money to take him to Toronto where he began working with a steamship company. Following that, he worked for a short time as a clerk in a New York City bank, but found his heart longed to be back at sea. He landed a job as a purser, advanced his career, and worked for nearly 20 years aboard cargo and passenger ships in South America. In 1941 Buckles was captured as a civilian while working aboard a steamship when the Japanese invaded the Philippines during World War II. After spending more than 3½ years as a POW, Buckles and his fellow prisoners were rescued by American Airmen in 1945.
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| Gap View Farm in 1930 |
Buckles moved to California where he met and married his wife Audrey. Both of them from families with backgrounds as landowners, they decided to return to their roots. In 1954, they bought a 330-acre farm near Charles Town, West Virginia. They moved back to raise cattle on Gap View Farm in the area his ancestor Robert Buckles and 15 other families had helped to settle in 1732.
On Veteran’s Day in 2007, when asked about the secret of his long life, Buckles gave a one-word reply: "Hope." Amusingly, he said, “When you start to die... don't.” He also added, “I never got in a hurry.”
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| Frank Buckles - the last of the Dough Boys |
Frank Buckles continued to work on his farm, still driving his tractor until the age of 106. He died peacefully on February 27, 2011, less than a month after celebrating his 110th birthday. His life represents thousands of lives who serve to keep the world free of tyranny and oppression.
You can read more about Frank Buckles, including his autobiographical sketch at
If this story touched you, and you want to honor a veteran, feel free to leave a comment below and tell me what you think!
