oldest WWI vet passes

Kirkus51

Kirkus51

Hooligan
Yer right Sal. Last one in the U.S. anyway. What's in the water in England that there's two left.

My Grandad was also in WWI. he was wounded at Chateu Thierry.
 
koifarm

koifarm

Hooligan
I had an uncle, Vernon, who was in the trenches of WW 1, in France, and suffered bad Mustard Gas burns on his legs. I can remember as a kid him talking about it. He had a German Luger pistol he would let us shoot. Seemed like he'd only talk about it much when he had a few martini's in him. From what I remember it was horrible for him. In those days PTS was not known but alcohol surely was and he used it a lot.
It is a milestone when those vets finally pass along....they were true hero's and deserve honors when they pass.
 
Moggy

Moggy

Scooter
Did you know...

More New Zealanders died defending Belgium in WW1, than Belgians. Strange but true...Apparently, they love Kiwis there.
Sad to hear about the last US vet though. My Grandfather served in WW1 aged 16, (He was at Paescendale) he died in 1972 aged 72, so the last US Vet must have lived to a good age.
 
O

otherwise

750cc
My grandfather was captured by the Germans at the battle of Fromelles on 19th July 1916. In that one 24 hour period 5,533 Australian soldiers were killed, wounded or taken prisoner. All Australian solders in the Great War were volunteers, he didn't get back to Australia until 1920. He said things were hard working on German farms but it was also hard for the Germans who owned the farms. He never had a bad word for his captors and actually became fluent in German.
 
O

otherwise

750cc
Moggy said:
More New Zealanders died defending Belgium in WW1, than Belgians. Strange but true...Apparently, they love Kiwis there.
Sad to hear about the last US vet though. My Grandfather served in WW1 aged 16, (He was at Paescendale) he died in 1972 aged 72, so the last US Vet must have lived to a good age.
Click to expand...


Half way down this page is a chart of countries and casualties for the Great War, it casts a question over your Belgian statement. Not making light of the NZ sacrifice, it actually shows that 46% of total NZ mobilized became casualties. Then when it was all over came Spanish Influenza that killed more than the war, what a shocking time to live.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allies_of_World_War_I
 
Bonneville09er

Bonneville09er

Street Tracker
My great grandfather was awarded the Croix de guerre fighting for France. Never met him, but he moved here in 1920 and his son, my great uncle lived in that same house til this year, when he passed at the age 85. He was a WW2 vet.

When I was 18, my father and I attended a Veterans Day ceremony at our family cemetery. There were a few WW1 veterans there, and WW2 were only in their 60's.
 
Kirkus51

Kirkus51

Hooligan
When we visited my folks hometown my Uncle would take us kids down to the VFW and buy us sodas. If his pals were there they'd sing WWI songs of the day and tell us some "racy" jokes. He had a sterioptican with pictures of "The Great War" that we looked at and they were pretty gruesome.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top