Frank Woodruff Buckles (born February 1, 1901) is, at age 107, the last known surviving American-born veteran of the First World War. He is a veteran WWI and a civilian POW WWII. He was born in Bethany, Missouri and at age 16, advanced his age to 21 and enlisted in April of 1917. He was an ambulance driver in England. After the Armistice he escorted POW's back to Germany. He was discharged a corporal in 1920. As a civilian, he was captured in the Philippines and spent three years in a Japanese prison camp. He was awarded the Legion d'honneur by then French president Jacues Chirac. His portrait is one of nine photos in a pentagon exibit of American doughboys. Eligable only for creamation at Arlington, Ross Perot intervened with the White House, and Buckles received special approval for underground burial at Arlington on March 19, 2008
