Subscribe | UPI Odd Newsletter Subscribe Oldest U.S. WWI vet turns 109 CHARLES TOWN, W.Va., Feb. 2 (UPI) -- The last surviving U.S. veteran of World War I, who has turned 109, is urging Congress to decide soon between two rival sites for a WWI veterans' memorial. Advertisement Frank Buckles, who turned 109 Monday at his farmhouse in West Virginia, renewed a call he has been making for several years for Congress to give federal recognition to a memorial in an out-of-the-way spot near the National Mall in Washington, CNN reported. He testified on the issue on Capitol Hill in December as lawmakers held hearings on whether the give the monument national status and authorize funding to upgrade it, the report said. Congress has also been considering whether to give formal recognition to a memorial established in the 1920s in Kansas City, Mo. Among the guests at Buckles' 109th birthday celebration Monday was Army Sgt. Gustavo Rodriguez, who escorted Buckles during a 2008 trip to Washington and recently completed a tour of duty in Iraq, CNN said. Advertisement Buckles was a corporal in the Army during World War I, driving an ambulance in Europe. In 2008, when he was guest of honor at Veterans Day ceremonies at Arlington National Cemetery, he said it was his duty to stand up for his fellow soldiers, CNN reported. "I have to," he said, "because I'm the last living member of Americans" who fought in World War I. Truck driver choked on chili before crash TYNGSBORO, Mass., Feb. 2 (UPI) -- A truck driver who drove his flatbed truck into the side of a Massachusetts home said he had lost consciousness due to choking on some chili. Eric Gremm, 59, said he was driving the truck with a load for Sherburne Lumber of Tyngsboro, Mass., Jan. 27 when the chili he was eating "went down the wrong pipe," the Lowell (Mass.) Sun reported. Emergency responders said Gremm lost consciousness and crashed into the side of a two-family house. "I didn't even realize it happened," he said. "I'm glad I didn't knock two houses down. I sure wrecked that one." Authorities said no major injuries were reported from the incident. Man tattoos train logo for tickets MELBOURNE, Feb. 2 (UPI) -- An Australian man said he obtained a pair of passes for his parents to ride a train across Europe by tattooing the transport company's logo on his back. Advertisement Grant Burton of Melbourne said he wanted to give his parents a trip to Germany for their 40th wedding anniversary so he contacted European rail company Eurail with his tattoo-for-tickets plan, Britain's The Sun reported. Burton said the company agreed to the exchange if he could attract 5,000 people to a Facebook group outlining the plan. He said the Internet portion was easy, and he now sports the Eurail logo across his back. "I'm giving something back," Burton said of his gift to his parents. "They've done so much for me. Being a human billboard is a small price to pay." Hunter shot by his own dog LOS BANOS, Calif., Feb. 2 (UPI) -- Authorities in California said a hunter was shot by his dog when he left his gun unattended while retrieving duck decoys. The Merced County Sheriff's Department said the 53-year-old hunter, whose name was not released, was hunting near Los Banos with his Labrador retriever and a partner Saturday when he set down his shotgun and walked about 15 feet away to retrieve some decoy ducks, The Fresno (Calif.) Bee reported. The dog stepped on the gun, shooting its owner in the upper left part of his back with No. 2 shot. Advertisement The sheriff's office said the man was treated and released from Los Banos Memorial Hospital.
