"WWI Vet" Dies - BS !?!?!
For some reason this story gets my goat. I think it degrades the service of guys that actually went into battle. What do you real vets think [ me being a 4F'er ]?
1 of last U.S. World War I vets dies in Ohio at age 109
Posted: Dec 21, 2007 05:06 AM EST
America's oldest WW I vet meets wth Dick Berry
J. Russell Coffey died on Thursday at the age of 109.
More On WTOL.com
America's oldest WWI vet meets with Dick Berry
NORTH BALTIMORE, Ohio (AP) -- One of only three known remaining American World War I veterans has died.
The Smith-Crates Funeral Home in North Baltimore, Ohio says J. Russell Coffey died yesterday at the age of 109. He had been living in a nursing home. There's no word on the cause of death.
The Veterans Affairs Department says Coffey was the last World War I vet in Ohio. Coffey enlisted in the Army in October 1918 while a student at Ohio State University.
It was a month before the Allied powers and Germany signed a cease-fire agreement and Coffey did not see action overseas. He did play semipro baseball and earned a doctorate in education from New York University.
Coffey taught high school and college and raised a family. According to the funeral home, he drove his car until he was 104 and lived on his own until three years ago.
On the Web: www.pbs.org/greatwar/
WW I film, true story about troops calling ceasefire during Christmas: www.imdb.com/title/tt0424205/
www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwone/
Posted by KO
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
1 of last U.S. World War I vets dies in Ohio at age 109
Posted: Dec 21, 2007 05:06 AM EST
America's oldest WW I vet meets wth Dick Berry
J. Russell Coffey died on Thursday at the age of 109.
More On WTOL.com
America's oldest WWI vet meets with Dick Berry
NORTH BALTIMORE, Ohio (AP) -- One of only three known remaining American World War I veterans has died.
The Smith-Crates Funeral Home in North Baltimore, Ohio says J. Russell Coffey died yesterday at the age of 109. He had been living in a nursing home. There's no word on the cause of death.
The Veterans Affairs Department says Coffey was the last World War I vet in Ohio. Coffey enlisted in the Army in October 1918 while a student at Ohio State University.
It was a month before the Allied powers and Germany signed a cease-fire agreement and Coffey did not see action overseas. He did play semipro baseball and earned a doctorate in education from New York University.
Coffey taught high school and college and raised a family. According to the funeral home, he drove his car until he was 104 and lived on his own until three years ago.
On the Web: www.pbs.org/greatwar/
WW I film, true story about troops calling ceasefire during Christmas: www.imdb.com/title/tt0424205/
www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwone/
Posted by KO
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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He enlisted while the war was on going and had no idea the German's were going to sign the cease fire, so in my eyes he tried. Good enough for my respect. 0 -
He only served 2 months?? Hmmn, that`s 2 more than you served! 0 -
In my opinion touting this man as a WWI vet is the same as the jokers that claim to have been in combat and got medals but in actual fact were never even in the war zone. It lessens the sacrifice of the guys that really went to the war zone. 0 -
quote:Originally posted by Ironrifle
He only served 2 months?? Hmmn, that`s 2 more than you served!
I want to compliment you on your grasp of the obvious .0 -
In any war, not all veterans served in combat theaters. Nonetheless, they served their country while it was at war. Yes, he was a WWI veteran and deserves the utmost respect and honor for that. 0 -
quote:Originally posted by mag
He enlisted one month before the war was over. He would have still been in boot camp when the war ended if they had inducted him at all. The article doesn't mention any overseas service.
I just read another article. He was discharged a month after the war was over. Two months of service IF he actually went to boot at all.
I think you're making overmuch over nothing. The man never claimed to be a combat veteran; in fact, he even mentioned that although he was ready to go fight at the time (he was a voluntary enlistee), looking back he realizes it was to his benefit that the war ended before he went overseas (and yes, while he was sill in boot camp).
His two older brothers fought overseas, and he was disappointed at the time that the war ended before he shipped out. But he told The Associated Press in April 2007: "I think I was good to get out of it."
From what I've read, he seems to have been a very humble man who never made himself out to be a hero. If your reading list covered more than short blurbs at PBS, you might have a more rounded idea of the true nature of things. Here- try on this link; even though it's taking from the Associated Press, it does give more biography on Mr. Coffey:
http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2007/dec/22/oldest-us-wwi-veteran-dies-at-109/
Something else you should consider: not only was he a voluntary enlistee, he was also in college at the time with two brothers already in service and deployed overseas. From where I sit, the man had a strong sense of patriotic duty. I'd much rather read about him than another story about Cindy Sheehan.
Perhaps you'd be better off spending your time railing against people who -although they were in the theater of operations during wartime (if only because they were drafted and thrust into the area)- are actually raging leftwingers who demean this country and try to validate it on the basis of their unwilling military service.0 -
quote:Originally posted by dheffley
He enlisted while the war was on going and had no idea the German's were going to sign the cease fire, so in my eyes he tried. Good enough for my respect.
SEMPER FI dheffley! Retired, little green fightin' machine here too! [;)][:D]
Old American!0 -
I am not railing against Mr. Coffey. What he did is commendable. What he is not is a WWI vet. If he is a WWI vet then all the guys that were in the service during the VN era are VN vets even if they served their whole time in the US or Europe.
I am 'railing' against the VA using him for bs propaganda. It's like all the BS that was hyped up about the Jessica Lynch situation, making her out to be a hero and the 'amazing rescue' from the hospital, etc. It really pissed her off to be used as a tool for the propaganda writers and she bravely spoke out against the BS. Even if she is not a hero in her own eyes, she is an Irag veteran with a PH.
Mr. Coffey's name and 'service' are being used by the goobermint to stir up patriotic pride. Just wait, in 45 years or so when the last "VN Vet" dies it won't faze the goobermint propaganda writers a bit if the guy never set foot out of the USA. Most of the sheeple will never know the difference.
I am all for calling Mr. Coffey one of the last "WWI Era Veterans" and leaving it at that.0 -
that is why i don,t belong to the VFW, even thowe i can as a active member.they only want in country members. i play poker with a man who did his time at randolph field during the vietnam war,i believe it,s in texas. his job was repairing electric equipment on the planes so US flyers and south vietnam pilots could learn to fly. for this he got no medals or parades. but i,m sure their are meny men who came back from that hell because of his service. i,m sure their are men here who are alive because of the B-52,s, F-100,s,F-4,s,A1E,s,huey,s,cobras ECT. just ask any one who called for air support in a tight. or a medivac in a fire fight. just how do you think these men learned their job,s? mail order courses. eastbank. 0 -
in reality these veteran clubs may have these men to thank for there in country members being alive and able to join. eastbank. 0 -
In my humble opinion:
A veteran of any war era is a veteran of that war.
A combat vet is a horse of a different color (but still a horse).0 -
Let it go man. The very fact that he served is enough and should be for anybody. Combat sucks and the fact that he didn't make it means another life lived. Let the man go in peace.
SSGT USMC
1969-1976
Vietnam 69-700 -
quote:Originally posted by mag
I am not railing against Mr. Coffey.
Really? Well what did you mean when you said in an earlier post: "In my opinion touting this man as a WWI vet is the same as the jokers that claim to have been in combat and got medals but in actual fact were never even in the war zone." -?
You compared Mr. Coffey to people who lie about their service. If what wasn't slamming Mr. Coffey I don't know what is.0 -
Who is touting Mr. Coffey ? It's not Mr. Coffey, it's your goobermint. That is who I am blasting. In the interviews it says that Mr. Coffey didn't want to talk about his army service, he wanted to talk about playing pro baseball or teaching, things he actually did unlike soldiering. This to me shows that he was uncomfortable with the goobermint's overstatement of his WWI service.
He is of a generation that didn't second guess the goobermint because back in his young days the goobermint didn't spin off as much BS as the goobermints do in the modern era [ LBJ to now ]. In his later years his declining mental state would prevent him from speaking out about being used as a propaganda tool.
You guys enjoy the goobermint's kool aid.0 -
quote:Originally posted by mag
Who is touting Mr. Coffey ?
Um...most everyone else (besides you) who posted in this thread posted in favor of Mr. Coffey so I guess we were all "touting" him.0
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