Only 80 men left who served in WW1.

[Sikander]

Re: Only 80 men left who served in WW1.

Let's split 'em into two platoons, dig 'em a trench and let 'em finish each other off!



Seriously, when I was a kid WWI vets were a dime a dozen. It's always sad to lose that direct connection to the past.

[Wezil]

My grandfather was wounded at Paschendaele in October 1917 (shrapnel).

Died in the late 1960's.

[Winston]

The last U.S. Civil War veteran died in 1959. Salling, I think his name was.

[monolith94]

My grandfather was in WW2, as an artilleryman. Other grandfather aaaalmost went. My great-grandfather, a recent italian immigrant, signed up to join at the tail end of WW1 but never was called up I guess.

[Tingkai]

Re: Only 80 men left who served in WW1.

Originally posted by Oerdin

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surviving_veterans_of_the_First_World_War

Kind of sad really but still interesting to go down the list. In all of Russia there is only one man left alive who served in the Czar's army. USA has the most number of surviving vets followed by Germany and then France.

Sad? They fought in WWI and survive. They lived through the hell of the 20th Century and survive.

I'd say raise a jar and let us be so lucky.

[Edan]

Re: Only 80 men left who served in WW1.

Originally posted by Oerdin

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surviving_veterans_of_the_First_World_War

Re: Only 80 men left who served in WW1.

Looks like there are 81 listed now.

[Winston]

Heh.

-Here's one.
-I'm not dead yet!
-Shut up. Well, he will be soon, he's very ill.
-I'm getting better.
-No you're not, you'll be stone dead in a moment.

[OzzyKP]

Think of the world 90 years from now. For those of us who make it, imagine the immense change we will look back on. Remembering the world before the Internet, before cloning, before whatever advances the future holds for us. The change just in the last 10 years that the Internet has brought has been mind boggling. To project that rate of rapid change over the next 90 years is too much to think about.

[Zoid]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emiliano_Mercado_del_Toro

This guy is OLD!

Since Sweden hasn´t been at war with another nation since 1814, there´s naturally no war veterans in Sweden... The most recent conflict involving swedish military is IIRC from Kongo in 1960-61. Most of those are around still.

[Last Conformist]

Originally posted by OzzyKP
Think of the world 90 years from now. For those of us who make it, imagine the immense change we will look back on.

You just made me think the thought Kuciboy might one day be the last survivor of us.

[mactbone]

My great-uncle served in a tank during WW2. His first battle was the Battle of the Bulge and he was captured - I think he was a POW for sometime over 6 months but he doesn't live that close and it's not the easiest subject to ask him about.

I also had a great-great whoever that paid someone to fight for him in the Civil War.

I've had a decent number of relatives that served but the only one who was in combat other than my great-uncle was my uncle who flew a helicopter in Vietnam.

It seems weird to think that all these guys from WW1 even lived this long.

[Kontiki]

My family, I suppose fortunately, managed to avoid both world wars due to their ages. My grandfather was alive but way too young to serve during WWI. His father was too old. My father was born in 1939, so he wasn't old enough to participate in WWII. Same thing with my mother's side.

[jdd2007]

There are some amazing stories on the website

Emiliano Mercado del Toro ... reminisces about being a child when U.S. troops invaded Puerto Rico in 1898, and he clearly remembers the fighting that marked the end of Spain's colonial empire.

Harold Gardner (born 3 December 1898) is a curiosity in that he is veteran of the First World War but served in the United States Army for less than 24 hours.

Anderson, Homer --- Balloon Corps

David Samuel "Tex" Little ... At the age of 16 enlisted in the army and trained soldiers at Fort Dix, New Jersey.

Spanish-American War? Balloon corps!

[Joseph]

Originally posted by Ecthy

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Last_surviving_United_States_war_veterans

The last Civil War veterans lived until the late 1950s... Until the early 1990s Spanish-American War (1898) veterans were still alive. it is amazing.

No he live until my 2nd year of high school. 59/60 class. Our Wood Shop teacher walk in one morning and told us that vet died last night. He was about 13 to 15 years old in 1865 and did shoot his rife at other side in the last days of the civil war.

[chequita guevara]

Originally posted by OzzyKP
Think of the world 90 years from now. For those of us who make it, imagine the immense change we will look back on. Remembering the world before the Internet, before cloning, before whatever advances the future holds for us. The change just in the last 10 years that the Internet has brought has been mind boggling. To project that rate of rapid change over the next 90 years is too much to think about.

Looking back on the crazy days before the world became socialist.