Broken connections
Frank Buckles died yesterday at the ripe old age of 110. Apparently, from his obituary, Mr. Buckles was a pretty remarkable man, who traveled the world well into his 50s and then retired to be a farmer, a job he took seriously enough to still be riding a tractor at 104. But what makes Mr. Buckles' passing noteworthy is his first job, Corporal Frank Buckles, U.S. Army ambulance driver in World War One. Cpl. Buckles was the last surviving American veteran of "the war to end all wars."
Over five years ago, I wrote this post about the loss that such passages represent. I think it's still relevant (and one of better things I've written), but there are other things to think about. Both my uncles who passed in the last couple of months were military men, serving just in or after Korea. Both had the flag folding ceremony at their funerals. Another one of my late uncles was also a military man, as was my father's father, who served in World War I and took home a bunch of stories and a case of dropsy that haunted him for the rest of his long life.
Eventually, all those lives ended, as Cpl. Buckles' life ended, taking the memories of a time before our time, a time now consigned to two dimensions with the loss of the last living memories. So, Godspeed, sir, and may we all meet again in a place where the memories can come alive again, not in fear and pain but in the joy of experience and the recognition of lives well lived.
Over five years ago, I wrote this post about the loss that such passages represent. I think it's still relevant (and one of better things I've written), but there are other things to think about. Both my uncles who passed in the last couple of months were military men, serving just in or after Korea. Both had the flag folding ceremony at their funerals. Another one of my late uncles was also a military man, as was my father's father, who served in World War I and took home a bunch of stories and a case of dropsy that haunted him for the rest of his long life.
Eventually, all those lives ended, as Cpl. Buckles' life ended, taking the memories of a time before our time, a time now consigned to two dimensions with the loss of the last living memories. So, Godspeed, sir, and may we all meet again in a place where the memories can come alive again, not in fear and pain but in the joy of experience and the recognition of lives well lived.