Last U.S. World War I Vet Dies

Frank Buckles was 110 years old.

The last Doughboy is gone. In his later years, Buckles became a staunch advocate for his fellow veterans, successfully lobbying the U.S. government to revamp the neglected World War I monument on the National Mall. Renovations to the structure began last fall. Buckles, a West Virginia native, served as an ambulance driver in Europe and rose to the rank of corporal by the war’s end. During World War II he worked as a merchant marine and spent three years in a prisoner of war camp after being captured in the Philippines. Preparations for his funeral services began weeks ago, and his family says there has been strong support for an honours burial at the military cemetery in Arlington, VA.