The number of World War one veterans is growing shorter with every day.
One of France's last World War I veterans, Rene Riffaud, has died at age 108, leaving just three known French survivors of the 1914-18 conflict, the National Veterans Office said Tuesday January 16th, 2007. Riffaud died overnight Tuesday, said Marie-Georges Vingadassalon, a spokeswoman for the office.
In an interview before he died Riffuad stated that, "The war was a massacre," he said. "There was a lot of destruction, lots of spite and lots of heartbreak for everyone. It must not happen again."
The Veterans Office said he was born Dec. 12, 1898, in Tunisia and joined a colonial artillery unit in April 1917. He had outlived his wife, and his only son. He is survived by three elderly granddaughters. Commemorations nationwide are expected to mark the death of the last member of France's revered club of officially recognized "poilus" — the nickname of the World War One French Army rank and file
Of the three surviving World War I veterans, the oldest — Louis de Cazenave — is 109, according to the veterans' office.
There are not many of these old veterans left. American Moses Hardy, believed to be the second-oldest man in the world and the last black U.S. veteran of World War I, died in December 2006 at age 113. The last Scottish vet, Alfred Anderson died in Nov 2005 at the age of 109. The Black Watch soldier was also Scotland's oldest man at the time. It is thought that at least 17 American, three Canadians, and an unconfirmed number of Russian and German veterans remain alive from the war. All are in their 100's.
