Last known WWI veteran honored for Memorial Day [View All]

[Omaha Steve]

http://apnews.excite.com/article/20080526/D90SVUNO6.html

May 25, 8:04 PM (ET)

By BRIAN CHARLTON

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) - Frank Woodruff Buckles, the last known living American-born veteran of World War I, was honored Sunday at the Liberty Memorial during Memorial Day weekend celebrations.

"I had a feeling of longevity and that I might be among those who survived, but I didn't know I'd be the No. 1," the 107-year-old veteran said at a ceremony to unveil his portrait.


Frank Buckles poses for a photo as he tours the National World War I Museum in Kansas City, Mo. Sunday, May 25, 2008. Buckles, at 107, is the last known living American-born veteran of World War I. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)


His photograph was hung in the main hallway of the National World War I Museum, which he toured for the first time, and the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States presented him with a gold medal of merit.

On Monday, he will be presented the American flag flying outside the memorial.

Buckles, who now lives in Charles Town, W.Va., has been an invited guest at the Pentagon, met with President Bush in Washington, D.C., and rode in the annual Armed Forces Day Parade in his home state since his status as one of the last living from the "Great War" was discovered nearly two years ago.

Federal officials have also arranged for his burial at Arlington National Cemetery.

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