This interview was recorded in 2008 by UPI Video.

He was just 16 years old when America entered World War One, but Frank Buckles knew he had to go serve his country. It was 1917 and he was shipped to Europe aboard the RMS Carpathia, the ship sent to search for survivors of the sinking Titanic. Once there, he drove ambulances for the 1st Fort Riley Causualty Detachment. When World War Two broke out he enlisted again, and in 1942 he was captured by the Japanese and held prisoner for over three years. When rescued in 1945, he was ill, malnourished and weighed less than 100 lbs.

Buckles was in his late 40s when he married. His wife died in 1999. Their only daughter looks after him.

He is the Honorary Chairman of the World War One Memorial Foundation which seeks to establish a World War One Museum on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.

He is the last surviving US Veteran of World War One.

GB Topics, Living, GB Exclusives - Centenarian Project, GB Topics - Unforgettable Characters, Living - Veterans

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