Senate honors life of last WWI Vet

The Oklahoma State Senate paused to honor the life and service of Frank Buckles, the sole surviving veteran of World War I. The former Oklahoma resident passed away on February 27 at the age of 110. The full Senate gave its approval to Senate Concurrent Resolution 8, by Sen. Jim Reynolds, on Wednesday.

“I think it is good for us to reflect on our past and the things that made our nation great,” said Reynolds, R-Oklahoma City. “World War I changed the world. The service of men like Frank Buckles truly set America on a path to greatness.”

Although he was born in Missouri in 1901, in 1916 Buckles’ family moved to Dewey County in Oklahoma. The very next year, at the age of sixteen, he tried to enlist in both the Marines and the Navy, but was turned down by both. He finally was successful after telling an army recruiter he was 21. He was sent to France where he drove ambulances and military vehicles. In 2007, the Department of Veterans Affairs identified Buckles as the last living link to the two million men who served in the American Expeditionary Forces in France in what was then hailed as the “war to end all wars.”

SCR 8 hails Buckles as an outstanding patriot and offers the condolences of the Oklahoma State Legislature to the Buckles family.