A Tribute to Frank Buckles
10 videos • 115 views • by SRvonEller A tribute to the last witness of the horrible carnage of the Great War. November 11th is Veteran's Day, the day that we honor all the veterans who have fought or given their lives defending our great nation. Many did not come back from battle. Even more came back, physically maimed for life for our freedom. Even more returned in one piece, but permanently psychologically scarred from their experiences. This is the day that we honor both the dead and the living. Veteran's Day wasn't always called Veteran's Day. Originally, the holiday was called Armistice Day, as it still is outside of the United States. November 11th marked the end of four years of unspeakable horror that left over 9 million dead and many more permanently wounded physically or psychologically. November 11th marked the end of a terrible stalemate resulting in a horrifying tactic called trench warfare. November 11th marked the end of the war that introduced the use of chemical warfare to this planet. November 11th marked the end of a war that defined geopolitics that continue to shape the world even to this very day. There are three surviving veterans from that war. Two were in training in England because of being underaged for combat. Only one actually witnessed the carnage of that awful era firsthand while transporting the wounded back from the battlefield, a job as dangerous as actually participating in the horrific battles of that war. That witness is Frank Woodruff Buckles, who bluffed his way into enlisting in the ambulance corps in spite of being underaged at the time. Frank Buckles is not a man to be stopped by surrounding circumstances. His enlistment was his third attempt at joining the action. He defied the odds of being limited to training in boot camp for future combat because of being too young for battle by volunteering to drive ambulances in France. He defied the odds of not only surviving a Japanese POW camp in the Philippines, but leading the other prisoners in calisthenics every day in spite of starvation that drove his weight below 100 pounds. He continues to defy predictions that started several years ago that each Memorial Day or each Veteran's Day would be his last. Even though he spent neither of the World Wars engaging in active combat, he was and continues to be a superlative fighter. Frank Buckles is a hero who saved the lives of others in both world wars at risk to his own safety, even though he never received a medal for having done so. Frank Buckles even had to fight for his right to be buried in Arlington Cemetery when the inevitable happens. He continues to fight to have the sacrifices of the soldiers he ultimately outlived remembered and recognized in our nation's capitol. He never stops fighting and defying the odds. Corporal Frank Woodruff Buckles, thank you for all you have done and continue to do. Keep showing them!