All Things Considered
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The evidence is part of the story.
Government records, national reporting, original writing, documentary credits, and public-history programs spanning portraiture, World War I remembrance, and cultural preservation.
National coverage · Public results
When the mission mattered, the nation paid attention.
From NPR and the Associated Press to The Washington Post and network news, DeJonge turned photographs, testimony, and citizen campaigns into stories that traveled—then into results: laws passed, money raised, institutions challenged, and a national memorial created.
17 news organizations represented30 documented articles, interviews & broadcasts1K+ search results across coverage, reprints & records
01 · National attentionTrusted outlets told the story
NPR, AP, CBS, CNN, NBC, The Washington Post, and others reported, interviewed, broadcast, and published.
02 · Coverage multipliedThe stories traveled
Wire distribution, broadcasts, regional pickup, and reprints carried the work far beyond its original audience.
03 · Attention became actionThe work produced results
Three laws passed. A national memorial was created. Campaigns raised funds and challenged institutions to change.
Survivor milestones, honors, obituary, and film
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The memorial appeal in Buckles’s own voice
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The final World War I veterans
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Pentagon, Europe, and Gerald R. Ford
NBC Nightly News
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Five reported or contextual records plus two bylined arguments
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Restoration and the memorial campaign
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A long-form documentary conversation
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The dispute over honoring Frank Buckles
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The three-minute interview
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The ninety-second Gingrich portrait
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From the home studio to the Amway Grand Plaza
Find profile ↓Official
record
record
U.S. Army · Department of Defense · Veterans Affairs · National Park Service · Congressional Record
Open official sources ↓1,000+publicly searchable results
Original stories, wire pickup and reprints, public records, films, and project archives keep the work visible years after the events.
See the wider public record ↗Behind the numbers: the 30 links on this page are articles, interviews, broadcasts, opinion, trade, and education pieces that have been individually checked. Each original Associated Press dispatch is counted once here, even though a wire story may be republished in many places. A broad search returned approximately 1,260 results on August 24, 2026, rounded to 1,000+; that larger total includes pickups and reprints, public records, film and video pages, directories, duplicates, and DeJonge-owned project pages. It shows the scale and staying power of the public record—not 1,000 separate original news stories. Outlet marks are shown solely to identify the publishers of linked coverage; all marks remain the property of their respective owners.
Career in context
The public campaign is one chapter in a larger career. DeJonge Studio and Legacy Icons document two founder-led enterprises; the World War I work entered the Pentagon, congressional proceedings, national media, museums, classrooms, and the editorial pages of The Washington Post.
For editors, producers & organizers
Press-ready biographies and career highlights.
Short, medium, and full biographies; interview subjects; name guidance; and direct links to reporting and public sources.
Enterprise
Two businesses built from the same discipline.
Begin with a visual craft, build trusted relationships around it, and turn exacting work into a durable enterprise.
From a basement practice to a hotel studio.
David developed DeJonge Studio into a portrait enterprise at the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel, serving private families and political, civic, business, and philanthropic leaders.
Explore the studio standards →Photographic standards carried into sacred art.
Legacy Icons applies faithful reproduction and historical interpretation to Christian imagery, extending skills developed during David’s portrait career.
Official company history ↗Enterprise joined to cultural preservation.
Friends of Mount Sinai Monastery documents David and the Legacy Icons team’s role in a replica-icon collaboration supporting the monastery.
Institutional account ↗Portraiture & photographic craft
A ninety-second sitting became a Washington session.
Contemporary coverage shows not only whom David photographed, but how he worked: large-format cameras, portable studio lighting, trusted access, and close attention to the finished print.
Professional Photographer · March 2000 · pp. 28–32
Politically Correct Portraiture: David DeJonge Photographs Newt Gingrich ↗
The official magazine archive opens at the article’s first page. Contemporary trade coverage confirms the ninety-second Grand Rapids sitting, use in Gingrich’s calendar and website, and the later Washington follow-up with 4 × 5 and medium-format cameras, Kodak film, and Photogenic lighting.
Michigan Retailer · May 200390 seconds develop photographer’s career ↗
Amy Buttery’s contemporary profile documents the home-studio beginnings, the purpose-built Amway Grand Plaza studio, the Gingrich commission, international competition honors, and David’s view of photography as a business built through continual learning.
CNN · December 2006Gerald R. Ford’s last formal portrait ↗
David’s 2003 Ford portrait is displayed during The Situation Room and described as Ford’s last formal portrait around his ninetieth birthday.
DeJonge Studio · Craft standardFrom exposure to finished print →
The enterprise story explains the studio’s standards for color fidelity, material discipline, and long-term durability.
Official record
Government and military documentation.
Accounts and images created by the institutions involved.
U.S. Army · March 2008
Army Salutes Last Doughboy
The Army’s account of the Pentagon ceremony, the portrait project, and the permanent nine-portrait exhibition.
Background: Frank W. Buckles in his World War I uniform, 1917.Open official account ↗ Department of Defense · Image recordDavid addresses the Pentagon ceremony
Official image and caption from the March 6, 2008 unveiling; marked public domain.
View the record ↗ Department of Veterans Affairs · 2008Veterans Affairs documents the project
The VA’s account of the nine veterans, David’s research, and the Pentagon installation.
Open VAnguard ↗ National Park Service · 2009Foundation letter in the federal file
Names David as president, Edwin Fountain as secretary/treasurer, and records the foundation’s objectives.
Open correspondence ↗ Congressional Record · 2009Ted Poe recognizes the school campaign
Links Creekwood Middle School’s work with David’s national traveling exhibition.
Open Congressional Record ↗Broadcast & national press
The last witnesses reach a national audience.
Independent contemporary reporting on the veterans, portraits, and memorial effort.
NPR · All Things Considered · February 7, 2008
History Passes Away with World War I Veteran
Robert Siegel interviews David DeJonge following Harry Landis’s death about the urgency of documenting the final World War I veterans.
CBS News · May 2008
Race Against Time to Remember WWI Vets ↗
Documents the eighteen-month portrait effort, Pentagon exhibition, and emerging memorial campaign.
CNN · March 6, 2008Pentagon takes possession of the portraits ↗
Contemporary network coverage of the ceremony and collection.
NBC Nightly News · VideoCoverage of the last witnesses ↗
The network segment follows the effort to document the final World War I veterans.
CNN Europe · VideoInternational interview on the last veterans ↗
A CNN Europe interview concerning the last surviving veterans.
Washington Examiner · InterviewThe three-minute interview: David DeJonge ↗
A concise contemporary account of the memorial advocacy.
The memorial campaign in the press
Not one story, but a sustained public record.
Reporting followed the last veterans, the Pentagon portraits, the restoration of the D.C. memorial, the dispute over Capitol honors, and the long argument over a national memorial.
Independent military press · September 9, 2008
Last American World War I veteran lends his voice to calls for a memorial
Independent military reporting from the D.C. War Memorial press event with Frank Buckles, Representative Ted Poe, and David DeJonge.
Read the feature ↗ Roll Call · March 4, 2011Members tussle over honoring a World War I veteran
Capitol Hill coverage of the dispute over whether Frank Buckles would lie in honor in the Rotunda.
Read the report ↗ Los Angeles Times · November 28, 2010A World War I memorial campaign and a restoration
National reporting on Buckles, David, the D.C. memorial, and the debate over national commemoration.
Read the feature ↗ The Philadelphia Inquirer · February 1, 2009Our last living link to World War I
A portrait of Buckles and the wider effort to photograph the final American veterans.
Read the feature ↗ PBS / WGVU · November 13, 2015Making Pershing’s Last Patriot
A long-form conversation about producing the documentary and carrying the veterans’ story to the screen.
Watch the interview ↗ The Washington Post · May 25, 2008Why didn’t we listen to their war stories?
Edward G. Lengel places Buckles’s memorial visit, White House and Pentagon honors, and the absence of a national World War I memorial before a national readership.
Read the essay ↗ The Washington Post · February 28, 2011Frank Buckles, last known U.S. World War I veteran, dies at 110
The Post’s obituary records Buckles’s life, his role as the last Doughboy, and his final campaign for a national memorial.
Read the obituary ↗ The Washington Post · March 31, 2011D.C.’s World War I memorial causes a 21st-century battle
John Kelly reports the emerging dispute over location, national status, Pershing Park, and the memorial foundation Buckles supported.
Read the report ↗ The Washington Post · March 28, 2012The memorial dispute moves through Congress
John Kelly reports on the location and legislative conflict, including David’s role in the campaign.
Read the report ↗ The Washington Post · April 30, 2021The National World War I Memorial opens
Philip Kennicott assesses the completed national memorial at Pershing Park and the long public effort to recover the war from national forgetting.
Read the assessment ↗ Fox News · March 2011Boehner proposes an Arlington ceremony
Coverage of the alternative offered after requests for Rotunda honors were rejected.
Read the report ↗Associated Press coverageFive distinct reports, each counted once regardless of syndicationView five reports
February 2, 2010America’s last surviving WWI veteran turns 109Syndicated by Fox News
February 1, 2011America’s last surviving WWI veteran turns 110Syndicated by The Gazette
March 4, 2011Ceremony for last WWI vet dashed by CongressSyndicated by CBS News
March 1, 2011Final U.S. survivor of World War I diesSyndicated by the Portland Press Herald
April 30, 2013Film about last WWI veteran presses for national memorialSyndicated by The Intelligencer
Writing & commentary
Two arguments in The Washington Post.
The memorial debate, presented directly to a national readership.
September 19, 2014
Our nation’s World War I memorial belongs on the Mall
By David DeJonge, then identified as president of the National World War I Memorial Foundation and producer-director of Pershing’s Last Patriot.
Read the essay ↗ January 14, 2018The Great War deserves a great memorial—on the Mall
David returned to the question of location, national meaning, and the promise made to Frank Buckles.
Read the opinion letter ↗Feature documentary
Pershing’s Last Patriot
The story of America’s last World War I veteran—and the struggle over how the nation should remember his generation.
David is credited as director, co-writer, and executive producer. The film draws on the access and testimony gathered through the veteran portrait project and the years of advocacy that followed.
Watch the complete documentary:
Original promotional artwork for Pershing’s Last PatriotEducation & public history
Students became participants, not spectators.
Research, exhibitions, service learning, fundraising, and direct engagement with Frank Buckles.
Creekwood launches the national tour
Students served as docents, assembled an exhibition, and connected schoolwork to the memorial campaign.
Houston Chronicle ↗Students carry the campaign forward
The Creekwood community raised approximately $14,000 and traveled to present the contribution to Frank Buckles.
Houston Chronicle ↗A large-scale student exhibition
Jefferson Junior High students built trenches, model battlefields, posters, and music programming around the traveling portraits.
Daily Herald ↗Public video collection
A 29-film archive spanning the campaign.
Congressional messages, network segments, veteran interviews, school programs, memorial advocacy, and documentary footage are preserved on the Pershing’s Last Patriot channel. The Public Work page now pairs the strongest films with the events they document; the complete channel remains available for deeper research.