Sunday, January 20, 2008

French WW1 Veteran Passes

The BBC reports that France's oldest World War I veteran, Louis de Casenave, died in his sleep at home today in Brioude, central France. This leaves only one French veteran of the war remaining, and only a handful around the world. Last month, I posted about death of the oldest American WW1 veteran and how the last Canadian WW1 veteran lives here in Spokane. I heard from David DeJonge, a photographer from my ancestral home of Grand Rapids, Michigan, who is working with the Department of Veteran Affairs to assist in tracking down and documenting the last survivors of this war. You can see a number of videos on YouTube that highlight these last survivors and the compelling photos that David took. He has portraits of these veterans on his website as well. If you know of any World War I veterans--male or female--he urges you to contact him as soon as possible to ensure he has not missed documenting their story.

No comments: