THIS IS A PRESS RELEASE FROM THE OFFICE OF UNITED STATES SENATOR JAY ROCKEFELLER.

Washington, DC -- Sen. Jay Rockefeller today offered remarks at a bipartisan event to honor 107 year-old Frank Buckles of Charles Town -- the only survivor of the more than 2 million U.S. military men sent overseas to fight in World War I.

Rockefeller was joined by fellow West Virginia Senator Robert C. Byrd; Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV); and, former U.S. Senator Bob Dole (R-KS). An overflow crowd filled the Senate Lyndon B. Johnson Room in the U.S. Capitol to honor Buckles. A full military color guard and members of the elite U.S. Army Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps kicked off the ceremony to honor the last living doughboy of WWI.

Only 16 at the time, Buckles convinced an Army recruiter to let him enlist in April of 1917. During the war, he served as an ambulance driver in France and England. Following the Armistice, Buckles guarded and transported German prisoners of war back to Germany and was honorably discharged in 1920. During WWII, while he was employed by a merchant shipping line, he was taken prisoner by the Japanese and held for three and a half years in a Philippine prison camp. In 1954, Buckles and his wife settled down on his family farm in Charles Town. Buckles credits his longevity to his daily workout regimen that includes lifting weights, stretches and 50 sit ups.