From Red State:

The Speaker’s Office and the Senate Majority Leader are blocking a request that Frank Buckles be allowed to lie in state (or in honor as the case may be) in the rotunda of the United States Capitol.

Frank Buckles is not just anybody. I agree that we should not let just anybody lie in state in the rotunda. I totally understand Harry Reid and John Boehner’s reasoning. The right should be reserved for a very special few. While I understand his reasoning, I think the last of the WWI and the last of the WWII servicemen should be given the honor.

Frank Buckles is not just a special few. He is the last of his kind. The very last.

Precisely 4,734,991 Americans served in World War I. Frank Buckles was the last of them to die. He lied to get into the Army at age 16 so he could fight the Kaiser. He is the last of a generation of Americans who heard the calling for freedom in a way other did not and rose up to fight.

He is the last of those men and boys who fought under an American flag across an ocean in a land most had never been who did so not because we were attacked or brought into a war, as we were in World War II, but because they heard the call of freedom in the first great war.

He, as the last of the embodiment of the men and boys who heard that first call for freedom across the seas, deserves to lie in the Rotunda.

The Speaker may be reached at (202) 225-0600. Harry Reid may be reached at (202) 224-3542.

In her statement, Mrs. Buckles Flanagan (his daughter) laid out her case why that is not enough:

“My father was a humble and soft-spoken gentleman who did not seek honor or recognition for himself, but in the last few years of his life others began to seek his support to the cause of honoring the military veterans of World War I, which he was glad to do. He was invited to testify before Congress on this subject in 2009, and he was honored to do so. When he became the last living American veteran of World War I, he recognized his role as representative of all the service members who served, fought, and died in the Great War and felt that it was his duty to do so, just as strongly as he felt the call to enlist and help fight that war, with all the other American doughboys.

In recent years, various Members of Congress have proposed to honor all the military veterans of World War I by honoring the last of those veterans to die. As fate would have it, that turned out to be my father. While Papa was still living, it was suggested that he lie in honor in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol as a final, formal tribute to all the veterans of World War I. Papa consented to this because he understood that, as the last living World War I veteran, he was expected to represent all of the World War I veterans. He looked upon this as his final duty, which he took very seriously.

My father’s friends, family and acquaintances will acknowledge his character and accomplishments, remember him and mourn his loss regardless of any formal honors bestowed upon him. The issue is how do we as Americans come together over this loss, by providing a befitting venue to do so? How do we demonstrate to our own people and people all over the world how the United States of America honors its citizens of distinction?

We need a time for reflection, and the recognition of the end of an era and the passing of a generation, especially for those men and women who made the Supreme Sacrifice for their country, and my father serves as a symbol for all those who served in World War I.

The Unknown Soldier from World War I and others have been recognized by lying in honor in the Rotunda of the Capitol. If the last American soldier surviving is not suitable to serve as a symbol around which we can rally to honor those who served their country in the Great War, then who can serve that purpose? There is no one left. If we lose the opportunity to bestow this highest of honors on the person who was the last surviving representative, there can be no making it up later.

There is no extraordinary precedent being made here. The next similar request will come for the last survivor of World War II in 25 or 30 years time, and it will be appropriate to honor that person, as well. It is absolutely appropriate to, and there is widespread public support for, allowing Frank Woodruff Buckles to lie in honor in the Rotunda. Let it be so.

We thank everyone for their prayers and support during this solemn time for our family and our country.”

Granted that Cpl Buckles never saw action, and was never decorated, but he SERVED, and is the LAST SURVIVOR…

Even more interesting to me, DOD and the Military have said absolutely NOTHING… And if fact are not even planning to provide military honors (assuming Mr. Buckles is allowed to buried in Arlington)…

What we have here, in my opinion is a direct slam against not only the military veterans, but a political ‘game’ being played out inside the administration and Congress…

This IS NOT the place or time to play these games, Cpl Buckles and the memory of our WWI Veterans deserve better than this!!!

Please call t

he Speaker may be reached at (202) 225-0600 and Harry Reid may be reached at (202) 224-3542 and voice your displeasure.

h/t Redstate.com

Edit 8 Mar…

Honoring Frank Buckles March 8, 2011 2:06 P.M. By Kathryn Jean Lopez John Boehner and Harry Reid are working to ensure that he is properly — highly — honored at Arlington. In a letter to Robert Gates, they ask: [W]e respectfully request, in addition to his interment in Arlington Cemetery, that the remains of Corporal Frank Buckles, U.S. Army, August 1917-January 1920, be allowed to lie in honor for a period of time in the cemetery’s Memorial Amphitheater. . . . Frank Buckles answered the call of duty to defend his country. He loved America and was assured of its ultimate victory. His contributions and sacrifice on behalf of the republic mark him as true patriot worthy of the hallowed grounds of Arlington. Guess He’s NOT GOOD ENOUGH for the Capitol… Sigh…