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Topic: 107 year old Royal Canadian! (Read 233 times)
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Mike Blais
SSM (NATO Bar), CPSM, UN-Cyp, CD
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A ROYAL CANADIAN "NEVER PASSES A FAULT"
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Many amongst us will find it interesting to note that the last surviving veteran of the Great War joined The Royal Canadian Regiment at the age of sixteen (he lied about his age!) .. and he is now 107!
Outstanding, don't you think?
'Last soldier standing' turns 107; Queen, GG among well-wishers as Sydenham-born veteran is feted
James Stevenson / CP
Local news - Thursday, July 19, 2007 @ 00:00
Canada's last known surviving First World War veteran took a bite of his 107th birthday cake, read his card from the Queen and wondered what all the fuss was about.
Holding court from his living room couch in suburban Spokane, Wa., John (Jack) Babcock admitted yesterday that the global attention lavished upon him had little to do with his war-time accomplishments.
"I ate up a lot of good government rations," Babcock, who was born in Sydenham but became an American citizen 60 years ago, said with traditional Canadian humility despite the American twang in his voice.
But with the death of his brother-in-arms Dwight Wilson in May at 106, Babcock has indeed achieved something he never ever thought of until recently. He's the last soldier standing.
Babcock now holds the title of the last known living Canadian to cross the Atlantic in uniform to fight for the Allies in the Great War.
And with his official birthday approaching on Monday, now is as good a time as any to celebrate.
Babcock doesn't at all mind the attention and visitors - particularly females in short skirts - and he loves to tell old stories and sing long-forgotten war ditties.
But he also realizes his newfound fame is fleeting.
"I know I'm going to die some day, so what the hell. I try to live a good clean life and I have a good wife who helps me."
With a full head of frizzy white hair, a bright-blue Hawaiian shirt and white shorts hanging off his bony frame, some imagination and time-yellowed photographs are required to picture Babcock in his young soldier prime.
With little prompting, his mind drifts back more than a century to his early childhood on a Sydenham farm, complete with vivid memories of wild cherry trees, snakes and foxes.
Born in 1900, Babcock was not even 16 years old when he enlisted with the Royal Canadian Regiment to go and fight the Germans in the muddy, bloody battlefields of Europe.
Lying about his age, Babcock made it to England before his service record caught up with him and he was relegated to the Boys Batallion and not allowed to see action.
He trained hard along with nearly 1,300 other under-aged soldiers in anticipation of crossing the channel and facing enemy fire, but the war ended before he could set foot in the trenches of France.
The passage of 90 years have helped to smooth the edges of his utter disappointment in being a "tin soldier" who never saw the battlefield. But he still freely admits he'd have fought if he could have.
"I think if I had a chance, I would have gone to France, taken my chances like the rest of them did. A lot of good men got killed."
Ten per cent of the roughly 600,000 Canadians who enlisted to fight in the First World War died on the battlefields of Europe - 170,000 more were wounded.
The war ultimately claimed 15 million civilian and military lives on both sides of the conflict.
Along with a cluster of family, media and elected representatives all jostling for positions near Babcock's couch yesterday came letters of congratulations from Queen Elizabeth and a tie festooned with red poppies from Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
Gov. Gen. Michaelle Jean praised his "rich life, filled with accomplishments, personal encounters, happiness and challenges.
"As you take stock, you can also reflect on the fact that your generation has seen tremendous and unprecedented changes, be they technological, scientific, political or social."
Soon after the war he moved to the United States, serving in the U.S. army and becoming a naturalized citizen.
He has lived in Spokane, in eastern Washington State, since 1932.
And despite his 107 years, he still likes to go to his favourite restaurant where he flirts with all the waitresses before ordering a burger and fries.
His son, Jack Jr., said of his father, "He's humble and bashful about being the last guy and very realistic about it. But you don't do what he's done in his lifetime without getting a little self-assurance."
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1RCR 1977-79 Depot (Italy PL), B Coy, Mortars, Pioneers, D Coy (CFB London)
3RCR 1979-82 M Coy, Pipes & Drums, Sigs, Mortars. (CFB Baden-Soellingen)
1RCR 1982-88 Mortars. Dukes, Cyprus-Welfare NCO 84-85, Injured, WO&Sgts Mess, (CFB London)
1988-92 Med-remuster to HELL/ 35 DU, CFB Baden
1992 Medical release. God Bless you all!
Pro Patria
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ranrad
Ron [Andy] Andrews
Ultimate 2000+ Member
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Well, i wont wish another 107 yrs on him..but then maybe i will, he seems pretty dang spry... and yes , what an amazing man , and amazing life....Happy Birthday ,Sir... ranrad
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RCAF,CAF, converted RCR?,1RCR 74-77 CD: SSM (Nato);CPSM,;UN-Cyp.; UN- Golan
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