the last veteransof WW1

[Poliorketes]

Early this year the last german WW1-participant died, now it seems the last soldier of Emperor Karl I. died:
http://www.faz.net/s/Rub501F42F1AA064C4CB17DF1C38AC00196/Doc~E92005B8797084DE99A44496756A6A5C9~ATpl~Ecommon~Scontent.html

[Prof.Witchheimer]

107 years old ?! he had a great live!

ruhe in Frieden alter Mann...

[Arlequín]

Early this year the last german WW1-participant died, now it seems the last soldier of Emperor Karl I. died:
http://www.faz.net/s/Rub501F42F1AA064C4CB17DF1C38AC00196/Doc~E92005B8797084DE99A44496756A6A5C9~ATpl~Ecommon~Scontent.html

The last French veteran died in March

http://www.webinfrance.com/last-french-wwi-soldier-dies-110-ending-era-in-france-europe-318.html

The Last Turkish veteran in April

http://firstworldwar.cloudworth.com/still-living-veterans-of-world-war-one.php

That Url also contains details of the final survivors. The British one served from the beginning of 1914.

I offer a salute to all of them...

The Dead

    Blow out, you bugles, over the rich Dead!
    There's none of these so lonely and poor of old,
    But, dying, has made us rarer gifts than gold
    These laid the world away; poured out the red
    Sweet wine of youth; gave up the years to be
    Of work and joy, and that unhoped serene,
    That men call age; and those who would have been,
    Their sons, they gave, their immortality.

    Blow, bugles, blow! They brought us, for our dearth,
    Holiness, lacked so long, and Love, and Pain.
    Honour has come back, as a king, to earth,
    And paid his subjects with a royal wage;
    And Nobleness walks in our ways again;
    And we have come into our heritage.

- Rupert Brook (1887-1915)

[WillieB]

The last 'official' Belgian WWI veteran, Grenadier Paul Ooghe  died a few years ago (2001) but there's another one, Cyriel Barbary (born 1899) who's  apparently still alive and doing well.

He lives in Detroit, USA and has the American nationality which is probably why he is no longer counted as a 'Belgian' veteran. IMHO he still is.

[Darkoath]

Wow poor guy... lives through world war one and then ends up in Detroit!

Sorry... I lived in Detroit for almost 15 years... it is one of my least favorite places on the planet!

[Wirelizard]

According to Wikipedia, Canada's last WW1 vet is also the last female WW1 vet anywhere: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gladys_Powers

There's a male Canadian WW1 vet too, except that he's also an American: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/ottawa/story/2008/05/09/babcock-citizen.html

(moved to the USA post-WW1, dual citizenship wasn't allowed; he's now a Canadian again, dual citizenship being just fine now)

The Canadian gov't has authorized a state funeral for the last surviving WW1 vet; whether Mr Babcock takes them up on the offer has yet to be seen.

[Weird WWII]

Can you image the life story these people had.  All that has transpired in their life time is incredible.

Brian

[Arlequín]

Can you image the life story these people had.  All that has transpired in their life time is incredible.

Brian

That goes for most of the elderly. I struggle to comphrehend that in my nan's lifetime, mankind went from not flying to breaking the sound barrier and then putting a man on the moon 

[Aaron]

Check this out: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/7439117.stm

He was at Jutland, the Somme, and Ypres and in addition he was a founding member of the RAF! What an amazing life and apparently he is still very sharp.