STATE OF OKLAHOMA

1st Session of the 53rd Legislature (2011)

SENATE CONCURRENT
RESOLUTION 8	By:	Reynolds and Russell of the Senate

			and

		Ritze of the House

AS INTRODUCED

A Concurrent Resolution commending the life of Frank Woodruff Buckles; offering condolences; and directing distribution.

WHEREAS, Frank Woodruff Buckles' life, in his own words, spanned the awesome, horrible, fantastic, dreadful Twentieth Century; and
WHEREAS, Frank Buckles was born on a family farm in Harrison County, Missouri, on February 1, 1901; and
WHEREAS, in 1916, Buckles moved with his family to Dewey County, Oklahoma, near Oakwood; and
WHEREAS, on April 6, 1917, the United States entered the Great War and Frank Buckles, at the age of sixteen, tried to enlist in the Marines and the Navy and was turned down by both; and
WHEREAS, in August 1917, Buckles enlisted in the United States Army in Oklahoma City and he chose to be an ambulance driver, hearing that was the quickest path to service in France; and
WHEREAS, Buckles sailed for England on the HMS Carpathia and served in various locations in France driving military vehicles and ambulances; and
WHEREAS, after the war, Buckles returned to Oklahoma City and after earning enough money took the train to Toronto, Canada, where he went to work for the White Star Line Steamship Company; and
WHEREAS, in 1941, while on shipping business in Manila, Buckles was taken prisoner of war by the Japanese and was imprisoned for three and one-half years until being liberated by an American airborne unit in February 1945; and
WHEREAS, Frank Buckles retired from steamship work in the mid-1950s and ran a cattle ranch and farming operation and up until the age of 106 was still driving a tractor; and
WHEREAS, in 2007, Frank Buckles was identified by the Department of Veterans Affairs as the last living link to the two million men who served in the American Expeditionary Forces in France in the “war to end all wars”; and
WHEREAS, Frank Buckles, the last World War I doughboy, died on Sunday, February 27, 2011, at his home in Charles Town, West Virginia.  Mr. Buckles was 110 years old.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE 1ST SESSION OF THE 53RD OKLAHOMA LEGISLATURE, THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES CONCURRING THEREIN:
THAT the Oklahoma State Legislature hereby commends the full life and many accomplishments of this outstanding patriot and last living World War I doughboy, the late Frank Woodruff Buckles.
THAT the Oklahoma State Legislature offers it most sincere condolences to the Buckles family.
THAT a copy of this resolution be distributed to Frank Buckles' daughter, Susannah Flanagan.

53-1-1583	JT	3/7/2011 11:49:25 AM