Congress Wants Arlington, Not Rotunda, Honor For America's Last WWI Vet

When he died, Frank Buckles, the last American to serve in WWI, wanted to lie in the U.S. Capitol’s rotunda. Instead, House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) are proposing that the recently-deceased veteran should “lie in honor for a period of time” in Arlington Cemetery’s Memorial Amphitheater.

Buckles’ daughter, Susannah Buckles Flanagan, issued a statement last week saying that her father saw lying in the rotunda as “his final duty.”

“He understood that, as the last living World War I veteran, he was expected to represent all of the World War I veterans,” Buckles Flanagan said.

Lying in the rotunda is typically permitted only for political figures. However, unknown soldiers from World War I, World War II, the Korean War and Vietnam War have received the honor.

In a joint-letter sent to Defense Secretary Robert Gates requesting the use of the amphitheater, Boehner and Reid described Buckles as a “true patriot worthy of the hallowed grounds of Arlington.”

“Frank Buckles answered the call of duty to defend his country,” the letter states. “He loved America and was assured of its ultimate victory.”

Buckles served as an ambulance driver in Europe during the war. He died last month at 110 and will buried in Arlington Cemetery.