HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 139

(By Mr. Speaker, Mr. Thompson, Armstead, Ashley, Azinger, Barker, Barill, Boggs, Border, Butcher, D. Campbell, Canterbury, Caputo, Carmichael, Cowles, Duke, Ennis, Evans, Frazier, Givens, Hall, Hartman, Householder, Howell, Ireland, Kominar, Kump, Lane, Lawrence, Manypenny, Martin, Miley, J. Miller, Moore, Overington, Pethtel, R. Phillips, Pino, M. Poling, Poore, Romine, Rowan, Shaver, Skaff, Staggers, Stephens, Storch, Sumner, Swartzmiller, Talbott, Varner, Walker, Walters and White)

Calling for the Congress of the United States to offer and support a resolution honoring the life of Frank Woodruff Buckles, and providing that Mr. Buckles body be allowed to lie in honor in the United States Capitol rotunda.

    Whereas, Frank W. Buckles was the last living soldier of World War I prior to his death on February 27, 2011; and

    Whereas, Frank W. Buckles enlisted in the army for the “Great War” at the age of sixteen years, and served two years in the American Expeditionary Forces as an ambulance driver and other needed services; and

    Whereas, Frank W. Buckles was further tied to our nation’s history by being held captive for thirty-nine months as a prisoner of war during World War II; and

    Whereas, After the World Wars I and II, Frank W. Buckles returned home to the United States, married Audrey Mayo, and in 1954 journeyed back to the home of his ancestors in the hills of West Virginia; and

    Whereas, Frank W. Buckles made his home at “Gap View Farm” in West Virginia’s eastern panhandle near the community of Charles Town; and

    Whereas, Frank W. Buckles lived out his one hundred and ten years of life with honor and purpose; and 

    Whereas, in the course of his lifetime, Frank W. Buckles, like so many other West Virginians and Americans across the nation, answered the call of his country to step forward and serve; and

    Whereas, the body of Frank W. Buckles represents both his distinguished service and the commitment of a selfless generation that has now passed through the sacred veil of this life; and

    Whereas, This Congress has both the ability and the calling to pay tribute to Frank W. Buckles and an entire generation of Americans who simply said in the face of life’s most challenging moments, “Send me!”; therefore, be it

    Resolved by the Legislature of West Virginia:

    That the Legislature of West Virginia hereby calls upon our Congressional Delegation and the Leaders of both the United States House and Senate to offer and support before their respective bodies a resolution allowing for Mr. Frank W. Buckles to lie in honor in the United States Capitol Rotunda, and honor befitting this man and the generation he has so faithfully represented; and, be it

    Further Resolved, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates forward certified copies of this resolution to the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, the President of the United States Senate, and the members of the West Virginia Congressional Delegation so that they may be apprised of the sense of the West Virginia Legislature in this matter.