RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, Frank W. Buckles has been called to eternal life by the wisdom of God at the age of one-hundred ten; and
WHEREAS, The Chicago City Council has been informed of his passing by Alderman Edward M. Burke; and
WHEREAS, For more than half a century, Frank W. Buckles was the loving and devoted husband of the late Audrey Mayo Buckles; and
WHEREAS, Frank W. Buckles was the much-adored father of Susannah to whom he imparted many of the fine and noble qualities which he possessed in abundance; and
WHEREAS, According to records maintained by the Veterans Administration, Frank W. Buckles was the last living American veteran who served in World War I; and
WHEREAS, In August of 1917, Frank W. Buckles entered the U.S. Army at sixteen after lying to military officials about his true age; and
WHEREAS, Frank W. Buckles was born on February 1, 1901, in a farmhouse in Bethany, Missouri; and
WHEREAS, Frank W. Buckles was one of approximately two million Americans sent to fight in France during 1918; and
WHEREAS, A man of quiet dignity, Frank W. Buckles described his then sixteen-year-old self as a naive schoolboy anxious for adventure; and
WHEREAS, At the conclusion of the war, Frank W. Buckles began working as a purser on commercial ships where he was caught in Manila during the Japanese invasion of the Philippines in 1941; and
WHEREAS, Frank W. Buckles survived thirty-eight months as a civilian prisoner before being liberated through a high-risk American military operation; and
WHEREAS, In 1953, Frank W. Buckles and his wife settled on the West Virginia farm where he lived a quiet and contented life for the remainder
WHEREAS, To his beloved family, Frank W. Buckles imparts a legacy of faithfulness, service and dignity; now, therefore
BE IT RESOLVED, That we, the Mayor and the members of the Chicago City Council, assembled this ninth day of March, 2011, do hereby commemorate Frank W. Buckles for his grace-filled life and do hereby express our condolences to his famil...
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