WWI French Soldier Obit (1 Viewer)

[Combat]

PARIS (AP) -- One of France's last World War I veterans, Rene Riffaud, has died at age 108, leaving just three known French survivors of the 1914-18 conflict, the National Veterans Office said Tuesday. Riffaud died overnight Tuesday, said Marie-Georges Vingadassalon, a spokeswoman for the office.

Of the three surviving World War I veterans, the oldest -- Louis de Cazenave -- is 109, according to the veterans' office.

Only belatedly, in 2006, did France recognize Riffaud as a veteran of the war, giving him an official veteran's card after his granddaughter brought his case to the government's attention.

In a November interview with The Associated Press before attending Armistice Day commemorations in Paris, Riffaud played down his war role.

''I did like everyone else, I went with the flow. I was mobilized like all other citizens,'' he said.

''The war was a massacre,'' he said. ''There was a lot of destruction, lots of spite and lots of heartbreak for everyone. It must not happen again.''

The Veterans Office said he was born Dec. 12, 1898, in Tunisia and joined a colonial artillery unit in April 1917.

His wife, Lucie, died in 1979. They were married in 1930, the veterans office said. It said he had one son, who also has died, and three granddaughters.

He worked as an electrician after his demobilization, and opened his own electrical repairs company.

He told the AP he was in a village in eastern France when the war ended on Nov. 11, 1918.

''We were guarding a bridge. An officer arrived and told us that the armistice had just been signed,'' he said. ''We went to town to celebrate, to eat bread that wasn't blackened, and we amused ourselves by watching the flights of geese taking off to go and bathe in the Rhine.''

Commemorations nationwide are expected to mark the death of the last member of France's revered club of officially recognized ''poilus'' -- meaning hairy or tough -- as it calls its veterans from the 1914-18 war.

 

[wadepat]

Combat,

Thanks for posting this obit. It is a very interesting account of the life of a WW I soldier. Do you (or anyone) know how many WW I vets still survive? The obit indicates that there are three remaining Frenchmen, but how many of all nationalities remain with us?

Warmest personal regards,

Pat

 

[Combat]

Combat,

Thanks for posting this obit. It is a very interesting account of the life of a WW I soldier. Do you (or anyone) know how many WW I vets still survive? The obit indicates that there are three remaining Frenchmen, but how many of all nationalities remain with us?

Warmest personal regards,

Pat

Pat-
According to wikipedia there are 47 WWI veterans still alive. I suspect it is somewhat difficult to get a 100% accurate number due to the age of the records, false names, different criteria etc. Anyway this is the WP breakdown:

Living in Australia - 4 veterans
Living in Canada - 3 veterans
Living in Germany - 9 veterans
Living in France - 7 veterans
Living in Italy - 7 veterans
Living in Poland - 3 veterans
Living in the UK - 4 veterans
Living in the USA - 10 veterans

 

[wadepat]

Pat-
According to wikipedia there are 47 WWI veterans still alive. I suspect it is somewhat difficult to get a 100% accurate number due to the age of the records, false names, different criteria etc. Anyway this is the WP breakdown:

Living in Australia - 4 veterans
Living in Canada - 3 veterans
Living in Germany - 9 veterans
Living in France - 7 veterans
Living in Italy - 7 veterans
Living in Poland - 3 veterans
Living in the UK - 4 veterans
Living in the USA - 10 veterans

Combat,

Thanks for the information. It is sad that only 47 WW I vets remain.

I remember when the last American Civil War vet died. I believe he was a Southerner and he died during the early 1950's. At that time, I experienced a bit of sadnes at the passing of an era. Doubtless, I will again experience that bit of sadness when all the WW I vets are gone.

Thanks again for the information. I appreciate it very much.

Warmest personal regards,

Pat

 

[Combat]

Combat,

Thanks for the information. It is sad that only 47 WW I vets remain.

I remember when the last American Civil War vet died. I believe he was a Southerner and he died during the early 1950's. At that time, I experienced a bit of sadnes at the passing of an era. Doubtless, I will again experience that bit of sadness when all the WW I vets are gone.

Thanks again for the information. I appreciate it very much.

Warmest personal regards,

Pat

There is a monument here in Gettysburg to Albert Woolson the last living veteran of the Union army. He died in 1956 and is depicted as an older man looking off toward the area of Pickett's charge.
http://brotherswar.com/Perspective-13Pic.htm

http://suvcw.org/banner/aw.htm

 

[wadepat]

There is a monument here in Gettysburg to Albert Woolson the last living veteran of the Union army. He died in 1956 and is depicted as an older man looking off toward the area of Pickett's charge.
http://brotherswar.com/Perspective-13Pic.htm

http://suvcw.org/banner/aw.htm

Combat,

Thanks for the information and the link. It is a moving experience to read about Mr. Woolson's life.

Do you know where to locate information regarding the last surviving Confederate veteran? My recollection is that the last surviving Civil War vereran was a Confederate soldier.

At any rate, thanks again for this information. It is difficult to believe that when I was a teenager in the 1050's, there were still some surviving Civil War veterans.

Warmest personal regards,

Pat

 

[kilted vampire]

A loss to his family no doubt but for him.... Perhaps a release or even a return to duty. A chance to rejoin his comrades. Vive l'France and old soldiers everywhere.

 

[Combat]

Combat,

Thanks for the information and the link. It is a moving experience to read about Mr. Woolson's life.

Do you know where to locate information regarding the last surviving Confederate veteran? My recollection is that the last surviving Civil War vereran was a Confederate soldier.

At any rate, thanks again for this information. It is difficult to believe that when I was a teenager in the 1050's, there were still some surviving Civil War veterans.

Warmest personal regards,

Pat

Pat- My grandmother, who passed away just recently, had a babysitter who served in the union army when she was a child. Oddly enough she lived in the south. Anyway the matter of the last civil war survivor is in dispute per our pals at WP:

Walter Williams was generally acknowledged as the 'last Confederate veteran' in the 1950s newspapers. However, in 1959 an exposé by the New York Times revealed that he was in fact born in 1854 in Itawamba County, Mississippi, and not 1842 as claimed. Still, since John Salling and all the other 'last claimants' were dead, Walter Williams was mythically celebrated as the 'last Confederate veteran' in December 1959 and January 1960. Even the U.S. President joined in. Salling's status is disputed. In 1991, William Marvel examined the claims of Salling and several other "last Civil War veterans" for a piece in the Civil War history magazine Blue & Gray. Marvel found census data that indicated Salling was born in 1858, not 1846. In the same piece, Marvel confirmed Woolson's claim to be the last surviving Union veteran and asserted that Woolson was the last genuine Civil War veteran on either side. However, Marvel did not present research establishing who, among the several other Confederate claims from the 1950s, some of which appear to be genuine, was the real last Confederate veteran.

Although in 1900 Salling supplied a birthdate of March 1858, he appears to have been born around 1856, still too late to have served in the Confederate Army. The 1860 census lists him as four years old, and the 1870 census as fourteen.[citation needed]

William Lundy is listed as one year old on the 1860 census, and from 1870 until 1930 he gave census marshals ages that reflected birthdates as early as 1853 and as late as 1860. He did not push his birthdate back to the 1840s until he applied for a Confederate pension from the state of Florida.[citation needed]

William J. Bush is listed as born July 1846 in the 1900 census, and aged 65 in the April 1910 census (suggesting a birthdate of 1844). This suggests that he was at least 106 and did not add years to his age because of a pension-fraud motivation.

 

[Chuck Harris]

Pat- My grandmother, who passed away just recently, had a babysitter who served in the union army when she was a child. Oddly enough she lived in the south. Anyway the matter of the last civil war survivor is in dispute per our pals at WP:

Walter Williams was generally acknowledged as the 'last Confederate veteran' in the 1950s newspapers. However, in 1959 an exposé by the New York Times revealed that he was in fact born in 1854 in Itawamba County, Mississippi, and not 1842 as claimed. Still, since John Salling and all the other 'last claimants' were dead, Walter Williams was mythically celebrated as the 'last Confederate veteran' in December 1959 and January 1960. Even the U.S. President joined in. Salling's status is disputed. In 1991, William Marvel examined the claims of Salling and several other "last Civil War veterans" for a piece in the Civil War history magazine Blue & Gray. Marvel found census data that indicated Salling was born in 1858, not 1846. In the same piece, Marvel confirmed Woolson's claim to be the last surviving Union veteran and asserted that Woolson was the last genuine Civil War veteran on either side. However, Marvel did not present research establishing who, among the several other Confederate claims from the 1950s, some of which appear to be genuine, was the real last Confederate veteran.

Although in 1900 Salling supplied a birthdate of March 1858, he appears to have been born around 1856, still too late to have served in the Confederate Army. The 1860 census lists him as four years old, and the 1870 census as fourteen.[citation needed]

William Lundy is listed as one year old on the 1860 census, and from 1870 until 1930 he gave census marshals ages that reflected birthdates as early as 1853 and as late as 1860. He did not push his birthdate back to the 1840s until he applied for a Confederate pension from the state of Florida.[citation needed]

William J. Bush is listed as born July 1846 in the 1900 census, and aged 65 in the April 1910 census (suggesting a birthdate of 1844). This suggests that he was at least 106 and did not add years to his age because of a pension-fraud motivation.

My Great grandfather was a Confederate Vet. he lived to see the end of WWII and was still farming until he went to sleep and did not wake up. That was in 1946.

 

[OzDigger]

My Great grandfather was a Confederate Vet. he lived to see the end of WWII and was still farming until he went to sleep and did not wake up. That was in 1946.

Hey Chuck, old soldiers never die, they just fade away as they say. My Grandfather lived to see the first flight of the Wright brothers and the first men on the moon. He used to with us in his later years and in fact slept in the same room as me in my last year of highschool. I guess it didn't help my grades much because he used to read his western books (he was a Louis L'Amour fan amongst others) until about 2.00 am each morning, but that's families isn't it. But I was very fond of the old guy. I'm very glad he left a recorded personal history of his life, which is something I can pass on to my children.

 

[wadepat]

Combat,

That is very interesting information regarding the last Confederate. It is also interesting to know that the identity of the last surviving Civil War veteran is in dispute. Perhaps we will never know who outlasted who. At any rate, it seems very remarkable to me that any of those veterans survived well into the 1950's!

Again, thanks for the great information!

Warmest personal regards,

Pat

 

[Chuck Harris]

Hey Chuck, old soldiers never die, they just fade away as they say. My Grandfather lived to see the first flight of the Wright brothers and the first men on the moon. He used to with us in his later years and in fact slept in the same room as me in my last year of highschool. I guess it didn't help my grades much because he used to read his western books (he was a Louis L'Amour fan amongst others) until about 2.00 am each morning, but that's families isn't it. But I was very fond of the old guy. I'm very glad he left a recorded personal history of his life, which is something I can pass on to my children.

I'm named after my great-grandfather even thought he died in 1946, I still miss him. We were very close. Three days after he died his old horse lay down and died also. The old horse always came up to the porch were he sat in the evenings to be by his side.
His wife my great-grandmother was Chickasaw Indian she died in 1942. I barely remember her. He closed the room she died in and would not use it for anything after her death. Left it just the way she left.
He was a farmer and a Baptist preacher but it would not of been a sin to shoot and kill a Yankee if one came on his land. The Bullet Holes were still in the side of house where a Yankee Raiding Party Shot killed his Mother & Father

 

[OzDigger]

I'm named after my great-grandfather even thought he died in 1946, I still miss him. We were very close. Three days after he died his old horse lay down and died also. The old horse always came up to the porch were he sat in the evenings to be by his side.
His wife my great-grandmother was Chickasaw Indian she died in 1942. I barely remember her. He closed the room she died in and would not use it for anything after her death. Left it just the way she left.
He was a farmer and a Baptist preacher but it would not of been a sin to shoot and kill a Yankee if one came on his land. The Bullet Holes were still in the side of house where a Yankee Raiding Party Shot killed his Mother & Father

An interesting family history you have there Chuck. I hope you have put the details down on paper for the next generation(s) of your family.