How do you KNOW that any WW1 veterans still alive are unlikely to have fought in any of the dreadful battles? I find your attitude disgusting. The ones who died should be remembered. And they are, in the hearts of those who lost someone, and every Remembrance Day. My 7-year-old daughter took part in the service last year in our village. She knows what they gave for freedom. The ones who survived often had terrible physical and mental wounds. They have had decades of memories to live with. My grandfather and great uncle both survived and talked about it between themselves but they could not describe the horror of it to their wives and children. I have photos of my grandfather taken in 1915 and 1918 and the difference in his face is clear to see. In one he is young, although 26, and in the other he looks haunted. Another of my great uncles survived the war but died in 1926 of injuries sustained from France. Those that survived deserve our compassion - they could not forget. Diane Ainsley > Date: Sun, 8 Apr 2007 00:05:22 +0200> From: thewynnes@gmail.com> To: greatwar@rootsweb.com> Subject: Re: [GREATWAR] Surviving WWI Veterans - are they alive?> > I couldn't care less how many so called veterans are still alive. Any> of these are unlikely to have fought in any of the really dreadful> battles where millions of young men lost their lives. These veterans> should count themselves lucky.> > As to giving the last survivor a state funeral, I find this really> sick. Again what about the millions who died fighting; they are the> ones who should be honoured.> > Diane _________________________________________________________________ Express yourself: design your homepage the way you want it with Live.com. http://www.live.com/getstarted

About 34-40 worldwide http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surviving_veterans_of_World_War_I Very few of the men and women left are combat veterans, most were too young for active service in the front lines. Sadly the obituaries columns are mostly filled with WW2 vets now. In a few years even they won't be around to tell us about the past. Nelson