[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 1060 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. RES. 1060

Congratulating Frank Buckles, America's last surviving WWI veteran, on 
                his 109th birthday on February 1, 2010.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            February 2, 2010

  Mr. Poe of Texas (for himself, Mr. Faleomavaega, and Mr. Barrett of 
South Carolina) submitted the following resolution; which was referred 
                 to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
Congratulating Frank Buckles, America's last surviving WWI veteran, on 
                his 109th birthday on February 1, 2010.

Whereas Frank Buckles was born on a family farm in Harrison County, Missouri, in 
        1901;
Whereas after several rejections, Buckles eluded a recruiter about his young age 
        and enlisted in the Army when he was 16 years old;
Whereas Buckles deployed with his fellow doughboys to the tune of America's 
        best-known WWI song, ``Over There'', on the Carpathia, the ship that 
        rescued the only survivors of the Titanic;
Whereas Buckles served as a motorcycle driver for dignitaries, an ambulance 
        driver, and a prison guard while serving for the American Expeditionary 
        Forces;
Whereas Buckles returned to the United States in 1920 as a corporal;
Whereas, while working as an assistant purser of the Western World steamship for 
        the American President Lines, Buckles was captured by the Japanese as a 
        civilian and became a prisoner of war during World War II;
Whereas for 39 months Buckles survived on meager rations consisting of beans, 
        rice, and worm-filled mush until his rescue by the 11th Airborne 
        Division of the Army on February 23, 1945, the same day he was scheduled 
        to be executed;
Whereas after fighting in two world wars, Buckles settled in West Virginia as a 
        farmer where his family ancestry dates back to the 1700s and where he 
        worked the farm until the age of 102;
Whereas Buckles dedicated his life so that other WWI veterans will be 
        remembered; and
Whereas his story embodies the self-sacrifice and patriotism that is at the very 
        core of what it means to be an American: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives congratulates Frank 
Buckles, America's last surviving WWI veteran, on his 109th birthday on 
February 1, 2010.
                                 <all>