The last witnesses.

Babcock enlisted at fifteen and reached England with Canada’s Young Soldiers Battalion, but the Armistice came before he could be sent to France. He later became a U.S. citizen, regained Canadian citizenship in 2008, and died as Canada’s last surviving First World War serviceman.

Brown enlisted at sixteen and served on North Atlantic convoy and antisubmarine duty. He later reenlisted, played cello in an admiral’s orchestra aboard USS Seattle, and became a Washington firefighter. At his death, he was the last known surviving U.S. Navy veteran of the war.

Coffey enlisted in October 1918 and was discharged that December without deploying overseas. He later earned a doctorate and became an educator. During David’s brief session, a nurse called, “Russell, open your eyes.” The response—and the closing eyes—made the project’s race against time unmistakable.

Landis entered training in Missouri in October 1918. Shortages meant drilling without enough uniforms or weapons; the influenza pandemic put him to work in a makeshift hospital. When the Armistice arrived, the young soldiers celebrated by driving around the town square sounding the horn.

Born in Forenza, Italy, Pierro immigrated to the United States and served in France at Saint-Mihiel and in the Meuse-Argonne offensive. He carried ammunition forward by horse-drawn wagon under shellfire. Records disagree on his exact February birth day, so the collection preserves the verified month and year.

Ramsey carried officers and supplies forward and brought wounded and dead soldiers back from the front. In France, a young girl exchanged a small lock of her hair for an American penny. He kept that fragile gift for the rest of his life.

Winters was among the pioneering women who entered the Naval Reserve as Yeomen (F), serving at the Washington Navy Yard with military status and equal rank-based pay. She later helped organize women veterans and was believed to be the last surviving American woman veteran of the First World War.

Drafted into the German Army as a teenager, Seegers served as a clerk and prisoner guard, briefly deserted, and survived the influenza pandemic. He brought the collection its view from inside the former German Empire—food scarcity, collapsing morale, and an enduring antiwar conviction—before emigrating to America.