The 108-year-old West Virginian is the last living American veteran of World War I, and the namesake of a bill sponsored by Sen. John Thune to create a national World War I memorial.
The Frank Buckles World War I Memorial Act, sponsored by Thune and Democrats Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.V., and Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., would rededicate an existing Washington, D.C. monument on the National Mall as a nationwide memorial to the 4.3 million Americans who fought in the Great War.
  
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“This is a long overdue tribute to those who defended freedom at a critical time for our nation and for our world,” Thune said.
More than 32,000 South Dakotans served in World War I, and around 300 died. Advocates of a national memorial want to keep memories of the war alive even as its last participants die.
“My dad was a World War I vet,” said Carol Garry, president of the South Dakota World War I Auxiliaries. “It would be a wonderful way to honor the veterans along with the other memorials at the mall.”
The proposed location on the National Mall is located near the World War II, Vietnam and Korean War Memorials on the western half of the Mall. It currently recognizes only World War I veterans from Washington, D.C., but lawmakers such as Thune want to rededicate it to represent veterans nationwide.
“There was so much sacrifice made by people in this country, although we were only involved in the conflict for about 18 months,” Thune said at a hearing Thursday. “I think it’s fitting that all the great wars of the 20th century have their place on the National Mall so people, when they come here to pay their respects and pay tribute to those who served in those conflicts also have the opportunity to honor the veterans of World War I.”
Buckles spoke briefly at Thursday’s hearing of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Subcommittee in favor of the national memorial on the Mall.
“I think it’s an excellent idea,” Buckles said.
Lorna DuBois, a Pierre resident who is a member of the World War I Auxiliaries, said she also supports the Mall location.
“It sounds like a good idea for me, since they have one for everybody else,” DuBois said.
Buckles, at 108, is probably the oldest person to ever testify before Congress, U.S. Senate Historian Don Ritchie said.
No action was taken Thursday on Thune’s measure. It faces competition from another bill seeking to make a World War I memorial in Kansas City, Mo., the nation’s official World War I memorial.
Read about the impact World War I had on South Dakota in the Capital Journal story, 'Great War' had big impact on state".
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