Last WWI Veteran regains Canadian Citizenship

[old medic]

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20080508/babcock_citizen_080508/20080508?hub=TopStories

Canada's oldest WWI vet a Canadian again

Updated Thu. May. 8 2008 10:42 PM ET

CTV.ca News Staff

Canada's last link to the First World War is a citizen again.

Jack Babcock is now 107-years-old and living in Spokane, Washington. But he wasn't always an American. He grew up in a rural community, on a farm near Kingston, Ont. He's now Canada's only surviving veteran from the Great War.

Babcock tried to join the Canadian army in 1915 at the tender age of 15. He was young, but tenacious, and he didn't mind lying to fight for his cause. He finally made it to Britain and served, but didn't see combat.

"There were a lot of good guys that got to the front and a lot of them got killed," he told CTV News recently for an exclusive report.

After the war, he moved to the U.S. and became a citizen there, and that forced him to renounce his Canadian citizenship.

Babcock got back his citizenship officially on Thursday after writing a simple two line letter to Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

"Could I have my citizenship restored," it asked, noting, "I would appreciate it."

The idea to get his Canadian citizenship returned came from Veterans Affairs Minister Greg Thompson, who visited Babcock a few weeks ago.

"I said Jack, would you be interested in getting your Canadian citizenship back ... He said right away, 'It would be wonderful, if you could,'" Thompson recalled, in an interview with CTV News.

Babcock's always been modest about his service during the war. He didn't make it to Europe's front lines.

"I ate up a lot of good government rations,'' a humble Babcock has joked in past interviews.

"I think if I had a chance, I would have gone to France, taken my chances like the rest of them did.''

Veterans groups say they're thrilled the old soldier is officially a Canadian again.

"He has his Canadian citizenship back. I say, good on you, Jack. Way to go," says Cliff Chadderton of War Amps.

 

[The Bread Guy]

Prime Minister Harper announces citizenship for Canada’s last known surviving veteran of the First World War
Prime Minister's Office, 9 May 08

Prime Minister Stephen Harper today announced that John Babcock, Canada’s last known surviving veteran of the First World War, is to be granted Canadian citizenship in recognition of his military service to Canada and his expressed desire, at age 107, to become a citizen of the country where he was born.

“We are proud to welcome Mr. Babcock back into the Canadian family and to honour the service he gave our country,” said Prime Minister Harper. “He symbolizes a generation of Canadians who, in many ways, were the authors of modern Canadian nationhood. When Canada went to war in 1914 we were widely perceived as a mere colony of Britain. By the end of the war, the world recognized Canada as a proud and independent country. Mr. Babcock and his fellow servicemen helped make possible Canada’s coming of age and I thank them from the bottom of my heart.”

John Babcock was born on July 23, 1900 on a farm near Kingston, Ontario. As a teenager, he joined a Canadian Army youth battalion and was sent overseas as part of the Canadian Expeditionary Force.

In the 1920s, Mr. Babcock moved to the United States. He became a U.S. citizen in 1946, and automatically lost his status as a British subject. The Canadian Citizenship Act, which legally established Canadian citizenship for the first time, only came into force in 1947.

Meetings with Veterans Affairs Minister Greg Thompson prompted the decision to grant Canadian citizenship to Mr. Babcock. “He told me he considers himself a Canadian at heart,” said Minister Thompson. Last month he presented Mr. Babcock with a Minister of Veterans Affairs Commendation in recognition of his contributions to the care and well-being of Veterans and to the remembrance of their sacrifices and achievements.

On hearing of Mr. Babcock and his wish to obtain Canadian citizenship, the Prime Minister urged his minister to act as quickly as possible. ”Mr. Babcock will become a Canadian citizen as soon as he takes the oath of citizenship,” Prime Minister Harper said. “This means the last known soldier to serve Canada in the First World War will forever be a Canadian.”

More information on Mr. Babcock and the Minister of Veterans Affairs Commendation can be found on the Veterans Affairs Canada Web site http://www.vac-acc.gc.ca.

A copy of Mr. Babcock’s letter to the Prime Minister is also available on the Prime Minister’s website at http://www.pm.gc.ca/eng/feature.asp?pageId=105

 

[Sigger]

Ahahaha! The letter was written with US flags all over it! I, for one, find that humorous.

 

[jollyjacktar]

Nice to see Mr. Babcock being accomodated like this.  The flags on the letter make me laugh too.  But I'll bet Conrad Black will be fuming at the gesture seeing as he was seen off.  That, makes me laugh harder.

 

[geo]

Excellent!
While the citzenship thing is somewhat trivial in the big picture of things, I am happy that it was done.

WRT the stationery used..... he is american after all... maybe someone should now provide him with stationary that has both the stars and stripes AND the maple leaf.

 

[lone bugler]

Lol this seems like a public relations or a political move but a vet is a vet regardless of being at the front or not so this is good news

 

[geo]

Of course it's a PR thing.... so what?

He served Canada and, based on today's rules, would have retained his Cdn citzenship regardless of his move to the US.  Given that he is one of the last WW1 soldiers alive in the world, it will be good that we mourn a Cdn citzen VS an American one.