In 2006, I had a random thought: Were any veterans of WW I still alive? I crunched some numbers and it seemed unlikely—the vet would have to be well past 100. But then I googled it and discovered that there were, as of May 2006, still 74 remaining. A Wikipedia page had all of their names, where they served, where they lived now, how old they were. I started tracking it, and they were dying quickly. A few months later there were 10 fewer, and on down it went. Once you are past 100, to live another month is a miracle. Then it was the last combat veteran, then the last non-combat solider. And here we are not quite six years later and they are all gone. This woman, a member of the R.A.F. who served in an officer’s mess hall, died last weekend.
Something very interesting about this to me, the point where human memory becomes replaced entirely by media. As of last week, she was the last person on earth who could tell you a story about serving in WWI based on her own experience. And now there are none. We have books and photos and websites but the imperfect human memory is no more.
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