By SPOKANE, Wash. - The oldest Canadian veteran of World War I has died at the age of 109.. John Babcock died Thursday in Spokane, where he has lived since 1932, according to a statement from Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper.. "John Babcock was Canada's last living link to the Great War, which in so many ways marked our coming of age as a nation," Harper said. He said 650,000 men and women served in the Canadian forces during WWI.. The United States has one surviving World War I veteran. Frank Woodruff Buckles turned 109 earlier this month in West Virginia.. Babcock was born July 23, 1900, on an Ontario farm and enlisted with the Royal Canadian Regiment when he was just 15, lying about his age. Babcock trained with nearly 1,300 other underage soldiers in anticipation of crossing the English Channel and facing enemy fire, but the war ended before he could set foot in France.. Soon after the war, he moved to the United States, where he served in the U.S. Army and became a naturalized citizen.
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