America's Last WWI Veteran Issues Statement on Final German Reparations, Calls on Nation to Complete Remembrance

WASHINGTON, November 10, 2010 - Frank W. Buckles, America's last surviving World War I veteran and
honorary chairman of the national World War I Memorial Foundation, today
issued the following Veteran's Day statement on the occasion of Germany's
final reparations payment and the 92nd anniversary of the armistice:

"I've had a long time to reflect on what it means to 'remember well.'
Being nearly 110 years old and the last of the five million Americans who
served in World War I gives me some insight on how our nation should mark
this great conflict and the generation that fought and died in it.

It has been reported that Germany recently made its final reparations
payment, clearing a ledger that few knew still existed. Some declared this
payment to be 'closure' for the Great War. While the German people have done
much to address the long-ago damages, and the payment has important symbolic
value, our own nation cannot yet declare closure. The reason is simple: we
still do not have a national memorial in Washington, D.C. to honor the
Americans who sacrificed with their lives during World War I. On this eve of
Veterans Day, I call upon the American people and the world to help me in
asking our elected officials to pass the law for a memorial to World War I in
our nation's capital.

These are difficult times, and we are not asking for anything elaborate.
What is fitting and right is a memorial that can take its place among those
commemorating the other great conflicts of the past century. On this 92nd
anniversary of the armistice, it is time to move forward with honor,
gratitude and resolve."

The nonprofit World War I Memorial Foundation
(www.WWImemorial.org) is dedicated to the restoration and rededication
of the District of Columbia War Memorial - a monument on the Mall in
Washington, D.C. that commemorates the 499 residents of the District of
Columbia who gave their lives in World War I - as a National and District of
Columbia World War I Memorial that commemorates the ultimate sacrifice made
by more than 116,000 Americans during the Great War.

About the World War I Memorial Foundation

The nonprofit World War I Memorial Foundation
(www.WWImemorial.org) is dedicated to the establishment of a national
World War I Memorial on the Mall in Washington, D.C. Its honorary chairman,
Frank Woodruff Buckles, age 109, is the sole surviving U.S. veteran of World
War I, the world's last witness to the horrors of Europe's Western Front and
a World War II POW. Buckles' remarkable story will become the subject of
"Pershing's Last Patriot" (www.pershingslastpatriot.com), a new
documentary to be narrated by Emmy award-winning actor Richard Thomas.

David DeJonge, +1-616-540-4922, david at dejongestudio.com