[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 167 (Thursday, November 3, 2011)]
[House]
[Page H7259]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     LONE SURVIVOR OF THE DOUGHBOYS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Texas (Mr. Poe) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, as we approach Veterans Day, the day 
we honor those who served and came back home, I want to talk about a 
very special veteran.
  Frank Buckles, Jr., when he was 16 years of age--some say 15--during 
the beginning of the great World War I, wanted to join the military and 
go overseas. Remember they sang that song, those doughboys, when they 
went overseas, George Cohan's song ``Over There.'' And they wouldn't 
come back until it was over ``over there.''
  The war started. He tried to join the Marines; they wouldn't take him 
because he was not 18. He tried different recruiters. He finally found 
an Army recruiter. He says he just told the recruiter a whopper--that 
he was 21. The recruiter took him, swore him in; and the fastest way he 
could get to Europe and get into action was to drive an ambulance. This 
is a photograph of Frank Buckles, Jr., when he served in the great 
World War I.
  After that war was over with, he came back home, although 116,000 
Americans did not come back home. Four million of them served in World 
War I. Frank Buckles, Jr., joined up as a seaman on a merchant ship. He 
was in the Philippines when World War II started, and he was captured 
by the Japanese and held in a prisoner of war camp for 3\1/2\ years. He 
was rescued, came back home to America, went to his farm in West 
Virginia, and he worked on the farm until he was 109 years old.
  Frank Buckles, Jr., died this year at the age of 110. He was the last 
surviving doughboy from America that served in the great World War I. 
This is a photograph taken shortly before his death this year.
  Frank Buckles, Jr., the loan survivor of World War I, a veteran of 
that great war, came back home. And his wish before he died, Mr. 
Speaker, was that we would have a permanent memorial for all who served 
in World War I on the Mall. You see, we have a memorial for Vietnam 
veterans, we have a memorial for the Korean veterans, the World War II 
veterans. There is a small memorial for the D.C. troops that served in 
World War I, but there's no memorial on the Mall for all of the 
doughboys like Frank Buckles, Jr., that served. And they have all died, 
Mr. Speaker. And it's our job, it's important for us to have that 
memorial for them, to allow it to be constructed.
  There is one memorial in Kansas City for the World War I doughboys, 
but we need one here also on the Mall. And it's important that we honor 
these great Americans because they are the veterans that we honor, that 
we appreciate, and that we should not forget, although all of them, 
including the loan survivor, Frank Buckles, Jr., has died. So I hope 
this House will join me and the gentleman from Missouri, Emanuel 
Cleaver, in passing legislation to authorize this memorial for those 
World War I doughboys.
  Veterans Day is approaching. We are approaching the 100th anniversary 
of the great World War I. We should remember them, and we can do this 
by erecting and allowing a memorial to be constructed on the Mall. The 
veterans are the greatest that we have. We should remember every one of 
them, those that served and came home, those that served and did not 
come home, and those that are serving and representing us today.
  And that's just the way it is.

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