Thursday, February 18, 2010
RIP John Babcock, WW1 vet
The last surviving Canadian WW1 veteran died today at age 109 in Spokane, where he has lived since 1932. Most people who were born in 1932 are already dead.
The last surviving American WW1 vet, Frank Buckles, is also 109 and still going strong.
I seriously doubt that any of today's youngsters, strapped down and kept indoors to "protect" them from sun and carbon and other imagined or minimal threats, will reach 109. Cell phones, prescribed psychedelics, and vitamin D deficiency are going to kill them much faster and more surely than cigarettes, whiskey and tuberculosis killed Babcock's generation. ¶ 6:46 PM
Babcock was born July 23, 1900, on an Ontario farm and enlisted with the Royal Canadian Regiment when he was just 15, lying about his age. Babcock trained with nearly 1,300 other underage soldiers in anticipation of crossing the English Channel and facing enemy fire, but the war ended before he could set foot in France.
Soon after the war, he moved to the United States, where he served in the U.S. Army and became a naturalized citizen.
Babcock attributed his longevity to the physical training he received from serving in two armies in his youth. He didn’t drink much and stopped smoking a long time ago.
The last surviving American WW1 vet, Frank Buckles, is also 109 and still going strong.
I seriously doubt that any of today's youngsters, strapped down and kept indoors to "protect" them from sun and carbon and other imagined or minimal threats, will reach 109. Cell phones, prescribed psychedelics, and vitamin D deficiency are going to kill them much faster and more surely than cigarettes, whiskey and tuberculosis killed Babcock's generation. ¶ 6:46 PM
