Letter to the Editor

Letter to the Editor

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

To the Editor:

Disappointed and embarrassed were my feelings when a historical event of extreme significance was printed on the 2nd page of our own local newspaper dated March 1, 2011.

This country lost its last World War I veteran, Frank Woodruff Buckles, on Sunday, Feb. 27, 2011. At the age of 16 1/2, this man lied about his age and finally convinced an Army captain that he was 18 years old so he could participate in a war that ultimately shaped the 20th century.

During World War I, this man did not serve on the front line, but he realized and recognized the sacrifice of our soldiers as he loaded and hauled the injured and dying into the ambulances of the Army's 1st Fort Riley Casual Detachment in England and France.

After the Armistice in 1918, Buckles escorted prisoners of war back to Germany. Following his discharge in 1920, he attended the dedication of the Liberty Memorial in Kansas City, Mo., to honor those Americans who died in World War I.

In World War II, he became a prisoner of war in the Philippines and was imprisoned for 39 months.

Toward the end of his 110 years, he actively advocated for the refurbishment of the Columbia War Memorial and its establishment as the National World War I Memorial on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., to honor veterans of the Great War.

News of his death appeared in the obituary page columns which may seem appropriate to some. However, I feel that the importance of this man and his place in our history deserved the honor of front page publication.

Leah Lewis

Fort Scott