Monday, February 28, 2011

Frank Buckles

By Vicki Smith - The Associated Press
Posted : Monday Feb 28, 2011 2:30:45 EST
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Frank Buckles was repeatedly rejected by military recruiters and got into uniform at 16 after lying about his age. He would later become the last surviving U.S. veteran of World War I.

Buckles, who also survived being a civilian POW in the Philippines in World War II, died of natural causes Sunday at his home in Charles Town, biographer and family spokesman David DeJonge said. He was 110.

Buckles would have wanted people to remember him as “the last torchbearer” for World War I, DeJonge said Monday.

Buckles had been advocating for a national memorial honoring veterans of the Great War in the nation’s capital and asked about its progress weekly, sometimes daily.

When asked in February 2008 how it felt to be the last of his kind, he said simply, “I realized that somebody had to be, and it was me.” And he told the Associated Press he would have done it all over again, “without a doubt.”“He was sad it’s not completed,” DeJonge said. “It’s a simple straightforward thing to do, to honor Americans.”

On Nov. 11, 2008, the 90th anniversary of the end of the war, Buckles attended a ceremony at the grave of World War I Gen. John Pershing in Arlington National Cemetery.

He was back in Washington a year later to endorse a proposal to rededicate the existing World War I memorial on the National Mall as the official National World War I Memorial. He told a Senate panel it was “an excellent idea.” The memorial was originally built to honor District of Columbia’s war dead.

Born in Missouri in 1901 and raised in Oklahoma, Buckles visited a string of military recruiters after the United States entered the “war to end all wars” in April 1917. He was repeatedly rejected before convincing an Army captain he was 18. He was actually 16½.

“A boy of (that age), he’s not afraid of anything. He wants to get in there,” Buckles said.

Details for services and arrangements will be announced later this week, but DeJonge said Buckles’ daughter, Susannah Flanagan, is planning for burial in Arlington National Cemetery. In 2008, friends persuaded the federal government to make an exception to its rules and allow his burial there.

Buckles had already been eligible to have his cremated remains housed at the cemetery. To be buried underground, however, he would have had to meet several criteria, including earning one of five medals, such as a Purple Heart.

Buckles never saw combat but joked, “Didn’t I make every effort?”

The family asked that donations be made to the National World War One Legacy Project. The project is managed by the nonprofit Survivor Quest and will educate students about Buckles and WWI through a documentary and traveling educational exhibition.

More than 4.7 million people joined the U.S. military from 1917-18. As of spring 2007, only three were still alive, according to a tally by the Department of Veterans Affairs: Buckles, J. Russell Coffey of Ohio and Harry Richard Landis of Florida.

The dwindling roster prompted a flurry of public interest, and Buckles went to Washington in May 2007 to serve as grand marshal of the national Memorial Day parade.

Coffey died Dec. 20, 2007, at age 109, while Landis died Feb. 4, 2008, at 108. Unlike Buckles, those two men were still in basic training in the United States when the war ended and did not make it overseas.

The last known Canadian veteran of the war, John Babcock of Spokane, Wash., died in February 2010.

There are no French or German veterans of the war left alive.

Buckles served in England and France, working mainly as a driver and a warehouse clerk. An eager student of culture and language, he used his off-duty hours to learn German, visit cathedrals, museums and tombs, and bicycle in the French countryside.

After Armistice Day, Buckles helped return prisoners of war to Germany. He returned to the United States in January 1920.

Buckles returned to Oklahoma for a while, then moved to Canada, where he worked a series of jobs before heading for New York City. There, he again took advantage of free museums, worked out at the YMCA, and landed jobs in banking and advertising.

But it was the shipping industry that suited him best, and he worked around the world for the White Star Line Steamship Co. and W.R. Grace & Co.

In 1941, while on business in the Philippines, Buckles was captured by the Japanese. He spent more than three years in prison camps.

“I was never actually looking for adventure,” Buckles once said. “It just came to me.”

He married in 1946 and moved to his farm in West Virginia’s Eastern Panhandle in 1954, where he and wife Audrey raised their daughter. Audrey Buckles died in 1999.

In spring 2007, Buckles told the AP of the trouble he went through to get into the military.

“I went to the state fair up in Wichita, Kansas, and while there, went to the recruiting station for the Marine Corps,” he said. “The nice Marine sergeant said I was too young when I gave my age as 18, said I had to be 21.”

Buckles returned a week later.

“I went back to the recruiting sergeant, and this time I was 21,” he said with a grin. “I passed the inspection ... but he told me I just wasn’t heavy enough.”

Then he tried the Navy, whose recruiter told Buckles he was flat-footed.

Buckles wouldn’t quit. In Oklahoma City, an Army captain demanded a birth certificate.

“I told him birth certificates were not made in Missouri when I was born, that the record was in a family Bible. I said, ‘You don’t want me to bring the family Bible down, do you?’” Buckles said with a laugh. “He said, ‘OK, we’ll take you.’”

He enlisted Aug. 14, 1917, serial number 15577.

HAPPY 23rd BIRTHDAY JENN!!

Jenn turned 23 on the 26th.
I love Jenn.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Thursday - Sunday


My Breakfast. {mother don't worry I only had a lil bit of the peanut butter. it was my emergency stash}
DRIVING TO THE CABIN!
Rachel sent me this of her brother playing the ukulele as they waited for me to lug my stuff down stairs.
Jenn sent me a picture of the resident pooch at the veterans hospital.

Sunday, February 20, 2011

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Quote of the Day

"Dana. If wishes were horses there would be a lot of poop in my living room."
- Molly Marigold Noodle-Wagon.

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

What the Hail?

today has been thundercake weather (not really) but it has been sunny and hailing and windy and sunny and hailing and raining and sunny and cloudy and . . . you get it.
Jenn just sent me this. Her house has an amazing view.

Quote of the Day

I do homework in starbucks. A guy walked in that knew the people working there. All I heard him say was...
"I'm on crack right now."
He was kidding, but that earned the QOTD.

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Calstar

Jenn went on a ride along today. She soared over Santa Cruz.

Bumper Sticker


Library Art

lao Zhu, no. 07929. 2008. lao Zhu's ink on canvas. 71.8x71.8in
Wang Jiazheng. industrial diary 204. 2010. oil on canvas. 71x98in

The Sky




We All Know This Person

everyone has a friend who is like this. don't laugh at them. you could be them one day. it can happen to anyone. faster then you know.

Monday, February 14, 2011

Valentine's Day Pictures



tear :'|

Valentine's Quote of the Day

Rachel - "Well, she's probably pooping on Mrs. Matthew's lawn."

Me - "Uh, yep. There she goes."

Valentine's Day Starbucks Stalker

as i was doing my homework in starbucks today this man and his son came in for coffee and milk. as you can see the son has a heart balloon and the dad was writing in a valentine's day card.


Valentine's Day Parking

JUST because its valentine's day doesn't mean you have to park like a complete BOOB!
GO HOME! no one likes you.
{or just give me the keys}

Vintage Ads

now im on a vintage obsessed rampage.
how amazing is she!
this is my friends mother!!

Vintage Valentine's

"Every February 14, across the United States and in other places around the world, candy, flowers and gifts are exchanged between loved ones, all in the name of St. Valentine. But who is this mysterious saint, and where did these traditions come from? Find out about the history of this centuries-old holiday......clickety clack......"







^
stolen from Kelly.

Happy Valentine's Day


for valentine's day. i have decided to have a date w/ the 101st airborne paratroopers of WW II.

Sunday, February 13, 2011

Quote of the Day

Me: "bottom. HA! maybe it was a bladder squeak bug sneeze. ive heard of those. my throat just
chrotled gurgled bubbled."

Kelly: "We're a couple of weird machines tonight."

(and that is why we've been
friends for a long long time)

Military Ministry (books)

Spiritual Fitness Handbook: U.S.Army Edition

Not until now has there been a field guide to personal faith in Jesus Christ specifically written for today’s American soldier.

Military Ministry is proud to present a NEW book, The Spiritual Fitness Handbook: U.S. Army Edition. The “SFH” is a natural follow-on to Military Ministry’s Rapid Deployment Kit (RDK), which has been instrumental in helping millions of service member, spouses, and veterans to engage with the Gospel, many for the first time. More than 2.2 million RDKs have been received voluntarily by troops and others since 9/11/2001.

CONTENTS
  • Spiritual Self-Assessment
  • Basic Spiritual Fitness
  • Spiritual Battle Drills
  • Readiness before Deployment
  • Resources during Deployment
  • Recovery after Deployment
  • Advanced Spiritual Fitness
  • Dealing with Tough Times
  • Spiritual “Ammo Bunker”
  • Connecting with God

EXCERPT: Living with Combat Trauma

“Life in eastern Afghanistan was pretty boring – that is, for my first 72 hours. They choppered us about 12 clicks from our FOB and our mission was to walk back through several small towns, seeing what they needed and trying to sniff out intel about insurgents in the area….I wasn’t ready to see what I saw when I got there….I’ve been home for eight months now. It was great at first, but then things began to change….Sometimes I think God might be able to help me, but go to church? Forget about it. I feel so exposed there – like a sniper’s drawing a bead on me. And I’m sure the people there think I’m crazy. I’d rather just stay home, draw the curtains and listen to my music. I feel safe here. Sort of.”

Is This You?

Do the experiences and questions of this soldier sound familiar? Read through the Spiritual Fitness Handbook to learn how God can help you return to a place of strength and stability again. If it’s not you, learn how to prepare to develop resilience after trauma, and how to help your Battle Buddies.

Inside the SFH

The Spiritual Fitness Handbook: U.S. Army Edition is geared to the Army Comprehensive Soldier Fitness program, fleshing out and providing resources that will help build and sustain spiritual fitness before, during and after deployment. Providing many Bible references, prayers written especially for soldiers, and a full description and invitation to the Gospel, theSpiritual Fitness Handbook is the only resource of its kind that we know which offers the basics of the Christian faith and a host of practical suggestions and tools to guide American soldiers on their first steps down the path toward a mature relationship with Jesus.

The Spiritual Fitness Handbook will be a valued and treasured spiritual tool and companion for recruits, enlisted troops and officers, and combat veterans. The Handbook measures 4” x 6” and is spiral bound in a “flip book” format. It is constructed of moisture-resistant, tear-proof paper and fits comfortably in the cargo pocket of a soldier’s uniform.

Since 9/11/2001, Military Ministry has distributed almost 2.3 million Rapid Deployment Kit (RDK) New Testaments for our troops. We’re able to send RDKs at no charge to chaplains and the military because of the donations of thousands of generous people across America. But you may also purchase an RDK to send to a military member you know.

Nearly every day, we hear stories about how much RDKs are appreciated:

  • Our chaplain staff has nearly exhausted our RDK supply. The troops really enjoy reading the Bibles and other reading material in the kit. Thank you for honoring our request. Army Staff Sergeant Chaplain Assistant
  • In Kandahar, Afghanistan, one marine had just returned from a combat patrol, and his first action was to pull the Bible from his fatigue pocket and kneel down to pray. His exhaustion was apparent, but his purposeful commitment to prayer was more compelling. Another marine had just completed a tour guarding prisoners in the compound at Kandahar and was assigned to accompany me through the compound. I noticed the pocket where he appeared to have kept his bible. I asked him where he got it, and he said it was given to him on board ship before he deployed into Afghanistan. He said a lot of his comrades were using them and he found great comfort in his combat Bible. Army General

RDKs contain a pocket-sized, camouflage-cover New Testament with Psalms and Proverbs(Good News Translation from the American Bible Society); an Our Daily Bread devotional guide (RBC Ministries); and a copy of the Would You Like to Know God Personally? booklet (Campus Crusade for Christ) in a waterproof bag that fits in the cargo pocket of a troop’s uniform. The requirement to allow the military member to easily carry a Bible with him or her at all times is a key to the success of the RDK ministry.

Every RDK is assembled by a volunteer. For many, this has become their primary personal ministry. Strong demand for Bibles continues from all branches of the military. We ship an average of nearly 20,000 New Testaments and full Bibles per month.

Our hope and prayer is that you will purchase RDKs for troops you know or to show others at your church, so they can participate in this wonderful ministry.

RDKs are free to chaplains and active duty military, paid for by the generous gifts of our donors. RDKs may also be purchased for giving to troops.

Chaplains: Click here to request RDKs.

For quantities over 25 please contact the Military Ministry Spiritual Resources Department at info@milmin.org or call 800-444-6006 during business hours (EST).


Followers