To the calm, Mother Earth's
Waiting breast;
Duty done, Like the sun:
Going West.
Posted on 02/07/2008 6:11:30 PM PST by Dubya
TAMPA, Fla. — Harry Richard Landis, who enlisted in the Army in 1918 and was one of only two known surviving U.S. veterans of World War I, has died. He was 108.
Landis, who lived at a Sun City Center nursing home, died Monday, according to Donna Riley, his caregiver for the past five years. He had recently been in the hospital with a fever and low blood pressure, she said.
"He only took vitamins and eye drops, no other medication," Riley said Wednesday. "He was 108 and a healthy man. That's why all of this was sudden and unexpected. He was so full of life."
The remaining U.S. veteran is Frank Buckles, 107, of Charles Town, W.Va., according the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. In addition, John Babcock of Spokane, Wash., 107, served in the Canadian army and is the last known Canadian veteran of the war.
Another World War I vet, Ohioan J. Russell Coffey, died in December at 109. The last known German World War I veteran, Erich Kaestner, died New Year's Day at 107.
Landis trained as a U.S. Army recruit for 60 days at the end of the war and never went overseas. But the VA counts him among the 4.7 million men and woman who served during the Great War.
The last time all known U.S. veterans of a war died was Sept. 10, 1992, when Spanish-American War veteran Nathan E. Cook passed away at age 106.
In an interview with The Associated Press in April in his Sun City Center apartment, Landis recalled that his time in the Student Army Training Corps involved a lot of marching. VA records show his entry date into the service was Oct. 14, 1918.
"I don't remember too much about it," said Landis, who enlisted while in college in Fayette, Mo., at age 18. "We went to school in the afternoon and drilled in the morning."
They often drilled in their street clothes.
"We got our uniforms a bit at a time. Got the whole uniform just before the war ended," Landis said. "Fortunately, we got our great coats first. It was very cold out there.
He told reporters in earlier interviews that he spent a lot of time cleaning up a makeshift sick ward and caring for recruits sickened by an influenza pandemic.
When asked whether he had wanted to get into the fight, Landis said, "No."
When the war ended on Nov. 11, 1918, Landis recalled a final march with his unit.
"We went down through the girls college, marching down the street. We got down to the courthouse square and there was a wall around this courthouse. We got to the wall and (the drill instructor) didn't know what to do and we were hup, two, three, four, hup, two, three, four," Landis said, laughing at the memory. "Finally, we jumped up on the wall and kept going until we got to the courthouse — hup, two, three, four — and he said dismissed."
He said he and some fellow recruits piled into a car to go to the next town.
"What we did there, why we were there, I couldn't tell you," Landis said.
He signed up to fight the Germans again in 1941, but at age 42 was rejected as too old.
"I registered, but that's all there was to it," Landis said.
"I was deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Mr. Landis," said LeRoy Collins Jr., executive director of the Florida Department of Veterans Affairs. "He was the last World War I-era veteran in Florida, and with his passing we say goodbye to a generation."
Landis was born in 1899 in Marion County, Mo.
After the war, he was a manager at S.S. Kresge Co., which later became Kmart, in Niagara Falls, N.Y., and Dayton, Ohio. His fondest memory was taking golf vacations with three friends and their families, a tradition that ended more than five decades ago with the death of his best friend.
"We really looked forward to getting our old foursome together and going somewhere for a couple of weeks," Landis said. "Sadly, my favorite best friend lived until he was only 60 years old. We were like brothers. We could talk about business, serious things and we could act like a couple of kids."
Landis retired to Florida's warmer climate in 1988 and lived in an assisted living center with his wife of 30 years, Eleanor.
His first wife, Eunice, died after 46 years of marriage. Landis had no children. He said he enjoyed a good game of golf until his health kept him off the course.
Landis laughed when asked the secret to his longevity.
"Just keep swinging," he said.
Harry Richard Landis, Thank You for outstanding service, and Rest in Peace Sir.
see also
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1966112/posts
(just more)
He made it quite clear it did not amount to more than marching and drill.
That orderly duty in the sick ward during the worldwide Spanish Flu pandemic must have been pretty grim though.
The most terrifying thing about it was how it struck down the young and vigorous. Because of their close quarters and young populations, army camps were the hardest hit.
That orderly duty in the sick ward during the worldwide Spanish Flu pandemic must have been pretty grim though.
The most terrifying thing about it was how it struck down the young and vigorous. Because of their close quarters and young populations, army camps were the hardest hit.
I had an uncle that passed away in 1985, he enlisted and served in Mexico with BlackJack Pershing chasing Pancho Villa. He almost died later from the flu and was discharged.
The last time all known U.S. veterans of a war died was Sept. 10, 1992, when Spanish-American War veteran Nathan E. Cook passed away at age 106.
As a kid back in the 1950s, I knew a lot of old (grandfather types) who were WWI Vets. But there was one old guy who was the neighborhood Chiropractor and an avid stamp collector. His name was Doc Winston. He was a very nice man. He got me interested in stamps then, sadly it didn't last for long. ( I was more into baseball cards then. ;~))
The guy was in his 80s I'd guess and still practicing. One time talking to him, he told me he was a veteran of not only the Spanish-American war, but also marched into Peking during the Boxer Rebellion.
I wish I had been old enough or smart enough to either record or write down his recollections of that time. I loved talking to him, but I just can't remember much of about the stories he told. I just knew I really liked that old guy and his history fascinated me then.
But tell your kids that when they meet an old timer who wants to tell them about 'the day' to find a way to preserve those memories.
The last time all known U.S. veterans of a war died was Sept. 10, 1992, when Spanish-American War veteran Nathan E. Cook passed away at age 106.
As a kid back in the 1950s, I knew a lot of old (grandfather types) who were WWI Vets. But there was one old guy who was the neighborhood Chiropractor and an avid stamp collector. His name was Doc Winston. He was a very nice man. He got me interested in stamps then, sadly it didn't last for long. ( I was more into baseball cards then. ;~))
The guy was in his 80s I'd guess and still practicing. One time talking to him, he told me he was a veteran of not only the Spanish-American war, but also marched into Peking during the Boxer Rebellion.
I wish I had been old enough or smart enough to either record or write down his recollections of that time. I loved talking to him, but I just can't remember much of about the stories he told. I just knew I really liked that old guy and his history fascinated me then.
But tell your kids that when they meet an old timer who wants to tell them about 'the day' to find a way to preserve those memories.
My great grandfather was born in 1899. He never fought in any war. His older brothers went off to WWI. I always assumed my great grandfather was too young to go to war in WWI. But apparently not.
He would have been 18 in 1917 when the US declared war. There could have been a lot of reasons he didn’t go while his older brothers did. Back then, they used to reject you if you had ‘flat feet’. Not every man of military age served in that or any other war. Thankfully, we have never been in that position.
Here's a song written in 1914 updated from an American song written in 1863.
It reflects the relief, joy and pride that families and hamlets will experience when their sons come marching home from the Great War:
When Johnny comes marching home again
Hurrah! Hurrah!
We'll give him a hearty welcome then
Hurrah! Hurrah!
The men will cheer and the boys will shout
The ladies they will all turn out
And we'll all feel gay
When Johnny comes marching home!
Get ready for the Jubilee
Hurrah! Hurrah!
We'll give the hero three times three
Hurrah! Hurrah!
The laurel wreath is ready now
To place upon his loyal brow
And we'll all feel gay
When Johnny comes marching home!
Rest in peace, U.S. Army Veteran, Harry Landis. You made the last march home to the Place we know your laurel wreath was waiting. We salute you!
Leni
RIP, Mr. Landis.
Thanks for posting.
I had just browsed the city rag and found this blurb on PAGE 20 next to a twice as large home window ad. The obit was pitiful NINE (9) LINES!
What a sad disgrace to our fallen soldiers!
God bless Harry Landis for his service.
The 1918 influenza pandemic was an incredible killer. It killed 500,000+ in the US and 50+ million worldwide. It wouldn’t surprise me it was was more dangerous, statistically speaking, to have served in those flu wards than to have been a US soldier in France.
It was the same with my grandfather. Born in 1899, he would have been old enough to enlist by 1917 but didn't. Even my father isn't too clear on the reasons. Granddad did have a defense-related job -- he was a tool & diemaker for an automotive company so he probably had a draft deferment. Of course, he would have been too old for WW2 (though it wasn't unheard of to find 40 year old infantrymen).
My family was of German extraction, so perhaps that had something to do with it?
Read somewhere that the US Army was alarmed at the medical rejection rate for WW1 which was somewhere around 20-25%. The big problem was the effects of malnutrition. It wasn't much 'better' for WW2.
My father had pneumonia real bad as a kid. He enlisted in the Air Force in the late '50's and served 6 years. He could easily have flunked a physical due to residual lung scarring. His childhood was at the very beginning of the antibiotic era & Polio was a big problem, too.
Aha...german extraction.
My great grandfather was german. Actually, he considered himself to be prussian, even though his mother was half swede. As I understand it, a prussian was something between german and danish...or a mixture of the two...and the nation of prussia ceased to exist before WWI. His people came from a town called schleswig. It’s practically in denmark.
Interestingly, this doesn’t quite jive with what I just looked up on wikipedia. It states there that old prussian is something between a german and a lithuanian.
odd
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