(See also: Richmond Times Dispatch Article on Feb. 26, 2010)
Frank W. Buckles: Virginia Society
Patriot at 109
By Douglas Payne, VSSR Secretary
Virginia Sons member
Frank Woodruff Buckles couldn’t make it to Richmond for the annual
George Washington Birthday Dinner this year because of foul weather,
so Richmond came to Frank Buckles. All the way to his 18th-century
stone farmhouse, Gap View Farm, in Charles Town, West Virginia.
Virginia Society president Thomas Vance and I made the three-hour
trek less than a week after the GWB dinner to present Buckles with a
Virginia Society medal originally struck in the 1920s for veterans
of the “Great War” as it was then called, and a check for $5,000 in
Buckles’ name for his World War I Memorial Foundation. The
Foundation plans to build a permanent World War I memorial on the
National Mall in Washington, D.C.
Frank Buckles is not only the last of the 4,734,991 U.S. veterans of
World War I, he is also the longest-serving member of the Sons of
the Revolution in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Originally inducted
as a member of the Virginia Society in 1948, Buckles still has fond
memories of traveling to Richmond for the annual GWB dinner at the
Commonwealth Club.
At 109 years of age, his mind is still sharp and his memories are
clear.
“Papa told me just the other day the difference between the Sons of
the Revolution and the Sons of the American Revolution,” said his
daughter, Susannah Buckles Flanagan, who lives with her husband and
father at the farm. “He is very proud to be a member of the
Virginia Society.”
Indeed. His General Society membership certificate hangs high on the
wall of his study, above all other photos and memorabilia he’s
collected over the last century. Among them is a photo of Buckles
and President George W. Bush at the White House in 2007 and Buckles
receiving the French Legion of Honor medal from French President
Jacques Chirac in 1999. Most poignant, there is a chipped white
metal mug that he used as a ration cup for three years during World
War II when he was a civilian prisoner of the Japanese in the
Philippines. He received 3/4 cup of rice each day and sometimes had
to fight to keep his cup.
“When we saw our paratroopers coming in one day toward the end of
the war, I went back to my bunk, washed up and put on a fresh, clean
shirt I’d been saving,” Buckles told us during our visit. “I wanted
to greet our troops in a dignified manner. And you know what? Years
later, one of the paratroopers recalled me among the others because
I looked presentable,” he chuckled.
No doubt he is from hearty stock. His ancestor, Robert Buckles II,
was a lieutenant in the Virginia Militia during the War of the
Revolution. Down the line, his people lived long and productive
lives; his own father lived to be 95 and was a cattle farmer in
Missouri. After World War I, he once met fellow Missourian, Gen.
John J. “Black Jack” Pershing, the leader of the American
Expeditionary Force in Europe. Pershing heard Buckles' Missouri
accent and asked where he was from. When Buckles told him, Pershing
replied: "Thirty-three miles as the crow flies from where I was born
near Laclede.”
"I had great respect for Pershing,” said Buckles, who sported a
Pershing medallion bolo tie during our visit. “He was real tough. He
didn't have a smile on his face, but that was all right with me.”
Paul Galanti, guest speaker at Sons annual George Washington
Birthday Dinner
Had Buckles been able to make the trip to Richmond on February 20,
he would have met the evening’s guest speaker, Commander Paul E.
Galanti, USN (Ret.). Galanti was also a prisoner-of-war, albeit many
years later during Vietnam. Spending over six years as a “guest” of
the North Vietnamese at the infamous Hanoi Hilton with Virginia
Society member Sen. John McCain, Galanti enthralled the
“unapologetically patriotic” audience of 243 members and a host of
military guests recounting his days as a Navy pilot and the
subsequent years of defending the honor of Vietnam veterans.
In the Club after the dinner, Commander Galanti was thanked by many
members and guests for his patriotism in the face of extreme
adversity – during and after the war. One guest in particular had a
heartfelt message to deliver: “Sir, I am a former member of a
special forces unit sent to rescue you during your imprisonment in
Hanoi. It has been a personal disappointment over the years that I
was never able to fulfill that mission, but I am honored to stand in
your presence this evening.”
The spark of patriotism born in the Revolution is alive and well in
men like Buckles and Galanti.
