Last Living World War I Veteran Saluted Over Ham Radio Broadcast
JEFFERSON COUNTY, WV - A message was broadcast around the world Tuesday in honor of veterans everywhere, and its signal came from the Charles Town farm of Frank Buckles, America's last living World War I veteran.
Frank Woodruff Buckles was 17 when the Armistice was signed in France and ended the war to end all wars. Now at 107 he's the sole representative of the almost five million Americans who served in the Great War.
“I knew that I would be among the last, but I didn’t know that I would be the last,” Buckles said.
To honor Buckles and veterans everywhere, the Eastern Panhandle Amateur Radio Club (EPARC) set up a special event station on Buckles' Charles Town farm. The radio operators talked to people in the Caribbean and as far west as Montana.
The FCC designated specific call letters for the special event so the ham radio operators in Charles Town sent out their signal under WW1 FWB, which stands for “World War I, Frank W. Buckles.”
EPARC members say the response from federal officials was unprecedented.
By lunch the club had responses from almost 200 amateur radio stations.
“The vets are telling him not only their regards but, ‘I salute him.’ The non-vets are saying the same thing,” said Pat Fowler, the president of EPARC.
Buckles himself saluted all veterans who came before and after him.
He said, “It's very important that World War I be represented, and I feel very honored that I’m the one who takes that place.”
Buckles left his farm shortly after noon to attend a wreath-laying ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery in Washington, D.C.
The Eastern Panhandle Amateur Radio Club will be broadcasting from Buckles' farm until 11 p.m. Tuesday night.
Source: News from Your4State.com
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