Landis was 1 of last 2 surviving U.S. WWI vets

TAMPA, Fla. — Harry Richard Landis, who enlisted in the Army in 1918 and was one of only two known surviving U.S. veterans of World War I, has died. He was 108.

Landis, who lived at a Sun City Center nursing home, died Monday, according to Donna Riley, his caregiver for the past five years. He had recently been in the hospital with a fever and low blood pressure, she said.

“He only took vitamins and eye drops, no other medication,” Riley said Wednesday. “He was 108 and a healthy man. That’s why all of this was sudden and unexpected. He was so full of life.”

The remaining U.S. veteran is Frank Buckles, 107, of Charles Town, W.Va., according the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. In addition, John Babcock of Spokane, Wash., 107, served in the Canadian army and is the last known Canadian veteran of the war.

Another World War I vet, Ohioan J. Russell Coffey, died in December at 109. The last known German World War I veteran, Erich Kaestner, died New Year’s Day at 107.

Landis trained as a Army recruit for 60 days at the end of the war and never went overseas. But the VA counts him among the 4.7 million who served during the Great War.