Last WW1 Combat Vet laid to rest.
PORTLAND, Ore. - The echo of a 21-gun salute and bugler playing Taps seemingly marked the end of an era as a state and national treasure was laid to rest in Portland, Ore., March 2.
Retired Army Cpl. Howard V. Ramsey, Oregon's last living World War I veteran and the last known U.S. combat veteran of WWI, died in his sleep Feb. 22 at an assisted living center in southeast Portland. He was honored in a memorial service attended by nearly 200 people at Lincoln Memorial Park exactly one month before reaching his 109th birthday.
"This is a very historic occasion; we lay to rest today our nation's oldest combat veteran," said Pastor Stu Weber, who officiated over Ramsey's memorial service.
In an Associated Press report, Jim Benson of the Veterans Administration said there are now only seven WWI veterans on record with the VA, although it is possible there are unknown veterans who may still exist.
Of the seven known WWI veterans still living, none were shipped overseas, making Ramsey the last known combat veteran of "The Great War." Ramsey inherited the title two weeks before his passing, when Massachusetts veteran Antonio Pierro passed away on Feb. 8.
Ramsey's lifetime spanned three centuries and 19 presidents. He was born in Rico, Colo., on April 2, 1898, when the U.S. flag had just 45 stars and President McKinley was preparing to declare war with Spain.
Too young to be drafted, Ramsey tried to voluntarily enlist but was told he was too skinny by Army standards. After gorging on bananas and water to successfully meet weight standards, he was placed in the Army's transportation corps.
Ramsey sailed to France in September 1918 to join General John "BlackJack" Pershing's American Expeditionary Force. Ramsey drove cars, trucks and motorcycles for the Army and trained other Soldiers how to drive. He was often selected to drive officers to special engagements, one officer "gigging" him for having a dirty truck despite the constant rain and mud in France. He also drove ambulances, transported troops to the frontlines and delivered water to troops on the battlefields.
Ramsey once recalled his service in WWI saying, "We were under fire a lot at the front, and we really caught hell one time. I lost friends over there."
After the armistice, Ramsey spent several months recovering the remains of American Soldiers who had been hastily buried in the trenches and transported them to the Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery, the largest American cemetery in Europe.
"You'd better believe it was pretty awful work," Ramsey told Oregonian reporter Rick Bella in 2005. "It was tough, but you became hardened to it."
Nearly 90 years later, Ramsey was still haunted by regret for not breaking the rules and keeping a diary that fell from the pocket of one deceased American Soldier. Ramsey told family and friends, "I wanted to keep that diary so badly to send it to his mother, but it was against the rules to keep anything from off the bodies."
Veterans of many generations and wars, and military representatives attended Ramsey's memorial service to pay their respects, including Brig. Gen. Raymond C. Byrne Jr., commander of the Oregon Army National Guard's 41st Infantry Brigade Combat Team, and Jim Willis, state director of Oregon Department of Veterans Affairs.
"If we are going to end an era, I can think of no better way than to do it with a person who is a model representation of the kinds of Soldiers who served this country in WWI, and someone who would be an example to any combat Soldier serving up to, and including those who serve in Afghanistan and Iraq today. All (veterans) would be justifiably proud to have known Corporal Howard Ramsey," said Willis.
Retired Army Col. Don Holden, whose father was Ramsey's classmate at Washington High School, shared fond memories of Ramsey's sense of humor. He said farewell to his old friend by reading the epic WWI poem "Flander's Field," which Ramsey could recite from memory well into his late 90s.
Retired Army Cpl. Howard V. Ramsey, Oregon's last living World War I veteran and the last known U.S. combat veteran of WWI, died in his sleep Feb. 22 at an assisted living center in southeast Portland. He was honored in a memorial service attended by nearly 200 people at Lincoln Memorial Park exactly one month before reaching his 109th birthday.
"This is a very historic occasion; we lay to rest today our nation's oldest combat veteran," said Pastor Stu Weber, who officiated over Ramsey's memorial service.
In an Associated Press report, Jim Benson of the Veterans Administration said there are now only seven WWI veterans on record with the VA, although it is possible there are unknown veterans who may still exist.
Of the seven known WWI veterans still living, none were shipped overseas, making Ramsey the last known combat veteran of "The Great War." Ramsey inherited the title two weeks before his passing, when Massachusetts veteran Antonio Pierro passed away on Feb. 8.
Ramsey's lifetime spanned three centuries and 19 presidents. He was born in Rico, Colo., on April 2, 1898, when the U.S. flag had just 45 stars and President McKinley was preparing to declare war with Spain.
Too young to be drafted, Ramsey tried to voluntarily enlist but was told he was too skinny by Army standards. After gorging on bananas and water to successfully meet weight standards, he was placed in the Army's transportation corps.
Ramsey sailed to France in September 1918 to join General John "BlackJack" Pershing's American Expeditionary Force. Ramsey drove cars, trucks and motorcycles for the Army and trained other Soldiers how to drive. He was often selected to drive officers to special engagements, one officer "gigging" him for having a dirty truck despite the constant rain and mud in France. He also drove ambulances, transported troops to the frontlines and delivered water to troops on the battlefields.
Ramsey once recalled his service in WWI saying, "We were under fire a lot at the front, and we really caught hell one time. I lost friends over there."
After the armistice, Ramsey spent several months recovering the remains of American Soldiers who had been hastily buried in the trenches and transported them to the Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery, the largest American cemetery in Europe.
"You'd better believe it was pretty awful work," Ramsey told Oregonian reporter Rick Bella in 2005. "It was tough, but you became hardened to it."
Nearly 90 years later, Ramsey was still haunted by regret for not breaking the rules and keeping a diary that fell from the pocket of one deceased American Soldier. Ramsey told family and friends, "I wanted to keep that diary so badly to send it to his mother, but it was against the rules to keep anything from off the bodies."
Veterans of many generations and wars, and military representatives attended Ramsey's memorial service to pay their respects, including Brig. Gen. Raymond C. Byrne Jr., commander of the Oregon Army National Guard's 41st Infantry Brigade Combat Team, and Jim Willis, state director of Oregon Department of Veterans Affairs.
"If we are going to end an era, I can think of no better way than to do it with a person who is a model representation of the kinds of Soldiers who served this country in WWI, and someone who would be an example to any combat Soldier serving up to, and including those who serve in Afghanistan and Iraq today. All (veterans) would be justifiably proud to have known Corporal Howard Ramsey," said Willis.
Retired Army Col. Don Holden, whose father was Ramsey's classmate at Washington High School, shared fond memories of Ramsey's sense of humor. He said farewell to his old friend by reading the epic WWI poem "Flander's Field," which Ramsey could recite from memory well into his late 90s.
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Good read. 0 -
I really didn't have any comments to make on this topic, but I think it is something I should share.
May he RIP.0 -
R.I.P. Sir... Welcome home. 0 -
RIP Corporal Ramsey. Thank you for your service to this country. 0 -
I hope his story has been documented somewhere so we can all share the legecy. I can recall the last Spanish American war Veteran to leave us. Heart goes out to the family. 0 -
Almost made it to 109! Wow what a life! You would think the stress of WW1 would result in a short life.
I always think about all the young men who never got a chance to live their lives. Its a sad thing to think about, no children just check out at 18-25 years of age.
R.I.P is well earned.0 -
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Rest in peace, Doughboy [V]
IN FLANDERS FIELDS the poppies blow
Between the crosses row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.0 -
This is truly a moment to pause and pay respect to the millions of Howard Ramsey's that went off to the muddy fields of Europe and, there to make the world a better place, died.
A whole generation of boys lost. For what? World War One was a brush fire that the men of the time let get away from them. A war began and fought over nothing.
Now you fellows remember what I told you six months ago about investing in WWI weapons and artifacts? I hope some of you were smart enough to take my advice. The centennial starts in 7 years.[;)]0 -
God Bless him and may he rest with his comerades friends and family.
As a combat Infantry Vet of WW 2 we too are getting fewer each year so we will be also next in line. May he rest in peace.0 -
God Bless Him.............. 0 -
God Bless You, Corporal Ramsey. Rest in Peace.
My grandfather was in the artillery in WW1. He was sent to France in 1918. He got close enough to the front to hear the sound of the big guns. It was November 11 1918 and the war ended two days before he got into the battle. His brother, Russel, was in the same battery with him.
My grandfather Frank was killed in a car wreck in South Dakota in 1934.
Rest in Peace, Grandfather Frank.0 -
"The Green Fields of France"
Eric Bogle
Well how do you do Private William McBride,
Do you mind if I sit here down by your graveside?
And rest for awhile beneath the warm summer sun,
I've been walking all day and now I'm nearly done
I see by your gravestone you were only nineteen
When you joined the glorious fallen in 1916;
Well I hope you died quick and I hope you died clean,
Or, young Willie McBride, was it slow and obscene?
Refrain:
Did they beat the drum slowly,
Did they play the fife lowly?
Did they sound the Death March
As they lowered you down?
Did the band play
"The Last Post And Chorus?"
Did the pipes play
"The Flowers Of The Forest?"
Did you leave 'ere a wife or a sweetheart behind?
In some faithful heart is your memory enshrined?
And although you died back in 1916,
In that faithful heart are you forever nineteen?
Or are you a stranger without even a name,
Enclosed forever behind a glass pane,
In an old photograph, torn, and battered and stained,
And faded to yellow in a brown leather frame?
Refrain:
Ah the sun now it shines on these green fields of France,
The warm summer breeze makes the red poppies dance,
And look how the sun shines from under the clouds;
There's no gas, no barbed wire, there're no guns firing now.
But here in this graveyard is still No Man's Land,
The countless white crosses in mute witness stand
To man's blind indifference to his fellow man,
To a whole generation that was butchered and damned.
Refrain:
Ah, young Willie McBride, I can't help wonder why,
Did all those who lay here really know why they died?
And did they believe when they answered the call,
Did they really believe that this war would end war?
For the sorrow, the suffering, the glory, the pain,
The killing and dying were all done in vain,
For, young Willie McBride, it all happened again,
And again and again and again and again.
Refrain:0 -
Rest in Peace Soldier!
And we will always remember your sacrifices!0 -
My grandfather was one of those doughboys - one of the finest men I ever knew - an honor to have as a grandfather.[:D] 0 -
I have the utmost respect for those who protect freedom so we can sleep at night.
Thank you corporal Ramsey for your horable and brave service to help keep this world peacefull.
RIP MY FRIEND!!0 -
Buried at Lincoln National Cemetary, which sits atop one of the rolling hills SE of Portland. It is also "home" for my grandfather, a combat WWI vet, three uncles, all WWII combat vets, and since there's no room left in the National Cemetaries in San Francisco,the town of my birth, I'll probably be joining them when my time comes. The reaper comes for us all- just sooner for some than others. 0 -
The world lost a real man. Doesn't happen often anymore. RIP soldier. 0 -
Two of my great uncles were seriously wounded in WWI, one by mustard gas and the other by a bayonet. Despite the permanent debillitating effects of their injuries, they both survived and returned to the States, dying years later when I was just a young boy back in the 1950's. 0 -
Cpl. Ramsey - you're dismissed, and thanks for a job well done. Rest in peace soldier, we'll take it from here. 0 -
My great grandpa was in WW1. He died a few years before I was born; he was already in the nursing home when my folks got married. He left a diary that, despite being a bit disjointed, makes very interesting reading. He got over there in April of 1918, fought in several engagements, and ended up as part of the Allied contingent left behind until 1919. And now the last of his comrades is gone too. There are still combat vets from the Great War in other countries, but very soon, they too will be gone. Thank you, sir, for your service, and God bless. 0 -
RIP Soldier... 0 -
I recall the last Spanish American War vet that died. Unfortunatly, We will probaly see this post about the WW2 vets followed by Korean War vets and so on. RIP soldier. 0 -
RIP, Brother>>> 0 -
I think it was in 1959 when I was 8 years old when the last veteran of the Civil War passed. My dad told me that the last link to the greatest moment in our history had truly ended. WWII had only been over for 14 or 15 years at the time and those vets were still in their youth. My Granpa was a veteran of WWI at the time and I thought HE was old!! The Civil War guy was just ancient to an 8 year old. But another era has passed as well...and time will continue to march on. Beach 0 -
Note that two more WW I vets died in the last week or so. The only woman left & the only Navy man left. 0 -
God be with ya, Cpl. Ramsey. 0 -
What an interesting story. I selfishly wish I could have sat and talked to him on the porch and heard his stories... 0 -
RIP. Local news has it that last soldier will be honored at the WW 1 memorial in K.C. MO. It is the only memorial in the US (?) . 0
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