ABLEnews Extra

               Keep The Torch Burning!
          
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Veterans of the military sometimes say they feel underappreciated by the
American people. It's not uncommon to hear soldiers who fought in
Vietnam and Korea say they often sense they are forgotten; even veterans
of World War II, a war that had the support of virtually the entire
nation, occasionally express these same sentiments.

But the American veterans who are truly forgotten are rarely heard from.
During World War I, 4,734,991 US citizens served in the military.
According to the best records available, of the 4.7 million, 19,747 are
left.

"I'm not surprised so few people think about us," said Ray H. Fuller,
98, a World War I infantry sergeant who now is commander of the Veterans
of World War I. "It's not so important that they remember us
individually, but it would be nice if they would at least remember what
we fought for. If once in a while they'd take the time to think about
what our country might be like if we hadn't won the war."

Fuller, of Oshkosh, WI, sailed off to Europe on a troop ship called the
George Washington on February 8, 1918 to serve in the Red Arrow
Division.

He had graduated from Oshkosh High School, had worked several factory
jobs ("Oshkosh was a big lumber town"), and went off to war not out of
any grand sense of patriotism, but simply because going off to war was
what young men in 1918 did.

"My younger brother Ralph had already gone," Fuller said, "and I told my
parents, 'If Ralph can go, why can't I?' Well, I went-- but Ralph never
came home. He was killed in action. My older brother Earl went, and he
was wounded--a piece of shrapnel near his heart. But when he came home
he served as county treasurer for 29 years.

If that sounds like ancient history, it makes Fuller's point World War I
veterans among us might as well be invisible--they range in age from 89
to 112, with the average age being 97. It is believed that 85% of them
live in some sort of care-giving facility: nursing homes, retirement
centers, or with relatives who help them out.

There was a time when the Veterans of World War I organization had its
own headquarters near Washington, DC, with a full-time staff of 21. Now
the group is administered by one person--Muriel Sue Parkhurst, 48, of
Alexandria, VA, who runs it from her home, and who is no longer paid for
her work.

"I consider it a privilege," she said. "My only regret is that we are
having trouble keeping the newspaper going." The newspaper she refers to
is called the Torch and it reports news and information about those
19,747 World War I soldiers who are still alive.

"For many of the men, the Torch is the only lifeline they have to each
other," she said. "It lets them know that they are not alone. The paper
reports when one of the veterans tells us that his great-granddaughter
took him to her school for show-and-tell. The paper reports when a
soldier celebrates the 75th anniversary of earning a Purple Heart.

"But the money that comes in from membership dues isn't what it once was
and the situation is only going to get worse."

(The Torch, although intended for the World War I veterans, is available
to the general public also. Subscriptions are $5 a year; the address is
The Torch, Veterans of World War I, PO Box 8027, Alexandria, VA 22306.)

The surviving veterans of World War I must contend with the same
atmosphere of crime, the same unsafe streets, as other Americans in
1994--and often are easy prey because of their age. As their commander,
Ray Fuller, chooses to remember the country when it was somewhat
different.

"When we came home from Europe--what a day," he said. "Those of us who
lived in Oshkosh arrived on a train that stopped at the old station on
the south side of the Fox River. The station's gone now, but I can still
see it.

"We marched across the bridge--in our uniforms we marched across the
bridge and over the river, back to our armory on the other side. Right
down Main Street, and all the streets were lined with people. Cheering!
They cheered us all the way to the armory. Oh, what a day that was."
 
[WWI Soldiers Have Become 'Invisible Veterans,' Bob Greene,
Martinsburg Journal, November 25, 1994]

ABLEnews Editor's Note: A concrete way to help would be to subscribe to
the Torch, especially, if you share our conviction the vets
themselves--not just their cause--should be remembered. Help keep the
Torch burning for freedom's defenders.

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