Remembering the last American survivors of wars

[Okiku Saji]

On Veteran's Day, I'm remembering the last veterans of wars...

Of the Revolution: John Gray (1764-1868), aged 104
Of the War of 1812: Hiram Cronk (1800-1905), aged 105
Of the Civil War: Albert Woolson (1850-1956) of the Union, aged 106; James Hard (1843-1953) the last Union combatant, aged 109; Walter Williams (1854-1959) of the Confederacy, aged 105; William Kiney (1846-1953) the last Confederate combatant, aged 107
Of the Spanish-American War: Nathan Cook (1885-1992), aged 106
Of World War 1: Frank Buckles (1901-2012), aged 110
Of the Pancho Villa Expedition: Mark Matthews (1897-2005), aged 108
Of the Spanish Civil War: Delmer Berg (1915-2016), aged 100

[David Carson]

On Sat, 11 Nov 2017 19:03:07 -0800 (PST), Okiku Saji

Post by Okiku Saji
On Veteran's Day, I'm remembering the last veterans of wars...

Of the French and Indian War: Jonathan Benjamin (1738-1841), age 103

Post by Okiku Saji
Of the Revolution: John Gray (1764-1868), aged 104
Of the War of 1812: Hiram Cronk (1800-1905), aged 105

Of the Texas Revolution: Alfonso Steele (1817-1911), age 94
Of the Mexican-American War: Owen Thomas Edgar (1831-1929), age 98

Post by Okiku Saji
Of the Civil War: Albert Woolson (1850-1956) of the Union, aged 106; James Hard (1843-1953) the last Union combatant, aged 109; Walter Williams (1854-1959) of the Confederacy, aged 105; William Kiney (1846-1953) the last Confederate combatant, aged 107
Of the Spanish-American War: Nathan Cook (1885-1992), aged 106
Of World War 1: Frank Buckles (1901-2012), aged 110
Of the Pancho Villa Expedition: Mark Matthews (1897-2005), aged 108

This was but one campaign and battle in the Border War. The Border War had
been ongoing for six years prior to this operation and continued for three
years after it. The last survivor of the Border War was Samuel Goldberg
(1900-2006), age 106.

Post by Okiku Saji
Of the Spanish Civil War: Delmer Berg (1915-2016), aged 100

I find it odd for this conflict to be included in a list of wars that
otherwise all involved the U.S. as a combatant or occurred on present-day
U.S. soil.

David Carson

[c***@aol.com]

Including the Spanish Civil War is ridiculous. You might as well choose any conflict any American participated in.

[l***@fl.it]

Post by c***@aol.com
Including the Spanish Civil War is ridiculous. You might as well choose any conflict any American participated in.

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/04/18/the-americans-soldiers-of-the-spanish-civil-war

[c***@aol.com]

It was not an official American conflict. Period.
You could include the Congo War too under that flabby definition.

[RH Draney]

Post by c***@aol.com
It was not an official American conflict. Period.
You could include the Congo War too under that flabby definition.

We didn't lose anybody in the Grenada thing, did we?...r

[Louis Epstein]

Post by Okiku Saji
On Veteran's Day, I'm remembering the last veterans of wars...
Of the Spanish-American War: Nathan Cook (1885-1992), aged 106
Of World War 1: Frank Buckles (1901-2012), aged 110

Most S-A fighting was in 1898,and WW I fighting ended in 1918.

WW II fighting ended 27 years after WW I fighting.
Will the last WW II veteran die after 2039?

-=-=-
The World Trade Center towers MUST rise again,
at least as tall as before...or terror has triumphed.

[jdunlop]

Post by Louis Epstein

Post by Okiku Saji
Of World War 1: Frank Buckles (1901-2012), aged 110

Most S-A fighting was in 1898,and WW I fighting ended in 1918.
WW II fighting ended 27 years after WW I fighting.
Will the last WW II veteran die after 2039?

The youngest WWII vets who enlisted at age 18 turn 90 this year. So there's a reasonable possibility for one of them to live to 110, which pushes it to 2037.

However, most of the soldiers on this list enlisted/joined before they were 18 (Buckles was 17 when WWI ended.) As things got more formal, fewer underage enlistees were allowed. While I'm sure there's a few underage enlistees for WWII, I'd be surprised if any enlistee for Vietnam and the Gulf conflicts will have enlisted before their 18th birthday (or 17 if they graduated high school earlier than most.)

[Louis Epstein]

Post by jdunlop

Post by Louis Epstein

Post by Okiku Saji
Of World War 1: Frank Buckles (1901-2012), aged 110

Most S-A fighting was in 1898,and WW I fighting ended in 1918.

[tracking the 20-year gap between deaths of the
last S-A veteran and last WW I veteran]

Post by jdunlop

Post by Louis Epstein
WW II fighting ended 27 years after WW I fighting.
Will the last WW II veteran die after 2039?

The youngest WWII vets who enlisted at age 18 turn 90 this year. So
there's a reasonable possibility for one of them to live to 110, which
pushes it to 2037.

Tracking the curves,there were 620,000 WW II veterans in the USA in 2016
compared to 111,000 WW I veterans in 1989.

The next few years' figures for WW I veterans
(from my World Almanac collection,as referenced in another thread)
are rather jerky:
1990 90,000
1991 72,300
1992 62,198
1993 34,000

It will be interesting to see in what proportions the WW II
veterans die off in comparison.

Post by jdunlop
However, most of the soldiers on this list enlisted/joined before they
were 18 (Buckles was 17 when WWI ended.) As things got more formal,
fewer underage enlistees were allowed. While I'm sure there's a few
underage enlistees for WWII,

Definitely.

Post by jdunlop
I'd be surprised if any enlistee for
Vietnam and the Gulf conflicts will have enlisted before their 18th
birthday (or 17 if they graduated high school earlier than most.)

(and had permission from both parents).

-=-=-
The World Trade Center towers MUST rise again,
at least as tall as before...or terror has triumphed.