[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 142 (Tuesday, September 9, 2008)]
[House]
[Pages H7931-H7932]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  THE LAST DOUGHBOY--THE LONE SURVIVOR

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Poe) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. POE. Mr. Speaker, it was 90 years ago this November that World 
War I was over; the 11th month, 11th day, 11th hour, it ended.
  Frank Buckles was in that war and is the last of his generation. Of 
the 4.7 million Americans that were mobilized during the First World 
War, Frank Buckles is the very last doughboy.
  His remarkable life began in Bethany, Missouri, where he was born in 
1901, during the administration of President McKinley. At the tender 
age of 16, Buckles lied his way into the United States Army when he 
enlisted to fight in the First World War. He was rejected by several 
recruiters, but he was not deterred until he finally found a recruiter 
that would take him. He joined the United States Army, and he drove an 
ambulance in Europe during World War I.
  Mr. Buckles served in the First World War, and was held then as a 
prisoner of war by the Japanese for 3 years during World War II.
  At the incredible age of 107, Frank Buckles has lived through 46 
percent of our Nation's history. Today, he resides on the family farm 
he purchased near Charlestown, West Virginia, purchased after the first 
war.
  Mr. Buckles is one of the forgotten veterans of a forgotten war. He 
is the lone survivor of World War I.
  During World War I, nearly 116,000 United States warriors gave their 
lives for this country. 4.7 million served, and they changed the tide 
of that stalemate war and ensured victory for the Allies. When the 
doughboys landed in France, our allies were impressed with their 
fighting spirit, and their tenacity stunned our enemies. When they 
returned to the United States, there were no parades or major memorials 
established in honor of them. They returned to the Roaring '20s, and 
America didn't want to talk about the war because America had decided 
to move on. Then the depressions of the 1930's hit, and the service of 
the veterans became a distant memory. Then World War II came, and 
America never got around to honoring the World War I vets.
  Today, we have three memorials to our major wars on modern history on 
the National Mall. They were built in order: Vietnam Memorial, then the 
Korean Memorial, and then the World War II Memorial. They were built in 
reverse order. But there is no national memorial, Mr. Speaker, for the 
World War I veterans. This was the war that was supposed to be the war 
to end all world wars.
  World War I marked the beginning of the history of modern war. It was 
the war that brought America into the forefront as a world power. It 
was the first war to be fought on three continents. And World War I was 
the first industrialized war with the introduction of major technology 
in weaponry like machine guns, tanks, artillery guns, and airplanes.
  In the 3-week long Meuse-Argonne Offensive, the largest U.S. 
engagement, 18,000 Americans were killed. Approximately 1,000 doughboys 
a day were killed. Some are still buried in Europe in graves known only 
by God.
  Many of the servicemembers who survived the tolls of war and came 
back home to the United States had already contracted a deadly flu 
virus while they were in France, and many of them died in the United 
States after the war from that flu.
  World War I should not be forgotten. In World War I there were no 
photographs taken, and after the war no blockbuster movies were made to 
tell the story.

[[Page H7932]]

  So today, I was honored to be with Frank Buckles at a press 
conference at the D.C. World War I Memorial on the National Mall.
  Since 1918, the men and women who served in World War I have gone 
without a national memorial to recognize their service to our country, 
and it is time that this changed. That is why I have introduced the 
Frank Buckles World War I Memorial Act. This bill would restore the 
District of Columbia's World War I Memorial and expand it so it serves 
a location on our mall for all those that served in World War I.
  After 90 years of no national recognition, it is time these doughboys 
were given the thanks that they are due. After all, Mr. Speaker, they 
were the ``fathers of the greatest generation.''
  When they went off to war in World War I, they sang the song of 
George M. Cohen, ``Over There,'' and it went something like this:
  ``Over there. Over there. Tell the world that the Yanks are coming. 
The Yanks are coming, and we won't be back until it is over, over 
there.''
  Mr. Speaker, it is time to honor the lone survivor of World War I and 
the other doughboys that went to war over there in the forgotten war, 
World War I, and build them that national monument on the mall.
  And that's just the way it is.

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