Corporal Buckles laid to rest at Arlington

[jimmy olsen]

I think it might be because he reminded me of my Great Uncle, who was also a war hero.

Tell us more.

[grumbler]

For some reason I was sadder when Dick Winters died.

Dick Winters was a more significant vet than Buckles.  He served much more heroically during his war and he was more forthcoming after his war. 

Why Buckles should have rated a formal lying in honor simply for outliving someone else is a mystery to me.  Only 3 people have laid in honor in the rotunda:  Rosa Parks, and capital policemen Jacob Chestnut and John Gibson, who were killed on duty there.  A REMF ambulance driver isn't in their league.

[Grey Fox]

For some reason I was sadder when Dick Winters died.

Dick Winters was a more significant vet than Buckles.  He served much more heroically during his war and he was more forthcoming after his war. 

Why Buckles should have rated a formal lying in honor simply for outliving someone else is a mystery to me.  Only 3 people have laid in honor in the rotunda:  Rosa Parks, and capital policemen Jacob Chestnut and John Gibson, who were killed on duty there.  A REMF ambulance driver isn't in their league.

While I agree with that. I think it's a symptom of what the article is trying to point out. We didn't honor our WWI veterans enough & now it's too late. Having the last one lye in honor in the rotunda might have somehow make up for that. Now it's too late. It's a trully forgotten sacrife that a generation made, almost 100 years ago.

[grumbler]

While I agree with that. I think it's a symptom of what the article is trying to point out. We didn't honor our WWI veterans enough & now it's too late. Having the last one lye in honor in the rotunda might have somehow make up for that. Now it's too late. It's a trully forgotten sacrife that a generation made, almost 100 years ago.

I assume that you are speaking here of Canada when you talk about "we" and "our" and "truly forgotten."

In the US, we have a holiday every Nov 11th, which recalls WW1 (though certainly American soldiers made nowhere near the sacrifices that Canucklehead ones did during the great War).  Having this guy lie in honor in the rotunda wouldn't have changed anything about how Americans think of the US veterans of WW1, IMO.  Certainly, this guy did nothing extraordinary that would warrant an extraordinary honor (an argument that could probably be made for Chestnut, who likely died instantly and never knew there was an incident, I know, but still there is a difference between LOD deaths and natural ones). 

The practice of elevating the mundane to phony greatness so that one feels better about one's self should be resisted.  It was resisted, properly, in this case.

[derspiess]

My great uncle was named for Pershing.

My great grandfather was named after Sherman

[Caliga]

Tell us more.

I know I've mentioned this before when we've had "What did your ancestors do in the great WWII" threads, but I like talking about my grandfather and his twin brother, so here goes:

My grandfather and his identical twin were college students (West Chester University in Pa.) when Pearl Harbor took place.  They tried to enlist shortly thereafter.  They both wanted to be fighter pilots and reasoned that if they were in different branches of the service there was a lesser chance of them both being killed, so Uncle Nelson picked the Navy because his name began with an 'N', and my grandfather (Ernest) picked the Army.

Oddly, my grandfather failed the vision test for pilots, but Nelson passed.  My grandfather became a radioman in the USAAF and was sent to Europe.  His first assignment was as a radioman on B-17s and he participated in several bombing runs over occupied France.  Then something bad happened (he never would talk about this but my grandmother thought his plane was hit by flak and some of the other crewmen killed) and he somehow was able to get out of flight duty.  Next he was an ATC at RAF Sheffield (where he'd been stationed), but at some point ended up on the SHAEF and worked under Ike in some capacity.  I don't know exactly what he did but my grandmother liked to repeat his ancedotal quote that "everyone loved Ike, but especially Kay Summersby" all the time.  I know he was in Egypt on official business because my mom has some Egyptian relics that he smuggled out of there and mailed to my grandmother--not sure how he pulled that one off.

Uncle Nelson ended up stationed in the Pacific as a PBY Catalina pilot.  I know less about his WWII service record... by the time I was old enough to remember conversations with him he had Alzheimer's so I don't know what was true and what wasn't, but his daughter confirmed some of it for me at a family reunion: he was shot down off New Guinea during the war, but managed to crash-land the Catalina right off a beach, only the beach was behind Japanese lines.  So he and another guy (I think most of the crew were actually killed in the crash) managed to evade the Japs and reach Australian lines.  They got medals for this but can't remember which now--nothing badass like the Navy Cross or anything.

[Caliga]

My great grandfather was named after Sherman

Fred Sherman?

[Caliga]

though certainly American soldiers made nowhere near the sacrifices that Canucklehead ones did during the great War

Hey wait a sec... my Great Great Uncle Lehman was gassed during WWII.

[Razgovory]

though certainly American soldiers made nowhere near the sacrifices that Canucklehead ones did during the great War

Hey wait a sec... my Great Great Uncle Lehman was gassed during WWII.

Was he Jewish?

[Caliga]

I meant WWI, sorry.

But no, he wasn't Jewish.

[Razgovory]

I meant WWI, sorry.

But no, he wasn't Jewish.

My great grandfather was shot about an hour after WWI.  I wonder if it was still considered a war wound.

[Barrister]

For some reason I was sadder when Dick Winters died.

Dick Winters was a more significant vet than Buckles.  He served much more heroically during his war and he was more forthcoming after his war. 

Why Buckles should have rated a formal lying in honor simply for outliving someone else is a mystery to me.  Only 3 people have laid in honor in the rotunda:  Rosa Parks, and capital policemen Jacob Chestnut and John Gibson, who were killed on duty there.  A REMF ambulance driver isn't in their league.

While I agree with that. I think it's a symptom of what the article is trying to point out. We didn't honor our WWI veterans enough & now it's too late. Having the last one lye in honor in the rotunda might have somehow make up for that. Now it's too late. It's a trully forgotten sacrife that a generation made, almost 100 years ago.

Perhaps you missed all the huge cenotaphs, the national holiday on the anniversary of the WWI armistice, the poppies everyone wears...

[Grey Fox]

I haven't (altho it doesn't the same reach here then in the rest of Canada).

Ceremonies are all well in good but that's not what I meant. I don't know the situation in Canada but from the article it's clear the WWI vet never got the treatment the WWII vet got.

[grumbler]

I don't know the situation in Canada but from the article it's clear the WWI vet never got the treatment the WWII vet got. 

Neither did the Korean War veterans, the US Civil War vets, etc.   The WW2 vets generally went through a lot more, and for longer, than the WW1 vets.

[Grey Fox]

Yeah, let's not talk about the Korean Wars vet, those guys got screwed. The worse remains the Spanish civil war vets, atleast here.