Talk:List of last World War I veterans by country

message: The last veterans of China and Japan have been added. However, they are unsourced, and according to their articles, while they were WWI veterans who lived to be quite old, there's nothing that says they were the last surviving veterans.Bkatcher (talk) 20:39, 19 April 2012 (UTC)
replies: text: *Another veteran who lived longer than Chiaki would be WWII Lt. General Hiroshi Watanabe, (Nov 14, 1894 - Jan 19, 1997) at 102 years old. There are not many sources for him that I can find yet, just a short bio on his WWII service  and another that further outlines his military career . He was born in the Yamaguchi Prefecture, graduated the military academy on May 25, 1915 and was comissioned as a lieutenant in December. During WWII, he served in several positions, including Chief of Staff of the Fourth Army. Lemunz (talk) 00:29, 10 May 2016 (UTC)
replies: text: *Today I came across a Japanese article  from Sept 15, 2004 about a 106-year-old man named Yasuichi Sasaki (佐々木安一) of the Yamaguchi prefecture. It states that he was born Jan 10, 1898 and, when translated, says "in 1916, volunteered for military service at the age of 18. In the following year he married with his wife of the same age. It was convened by the Siberian soldiers in 1919, but it was immediately decided to withdraw and escaped from Siberia. Within a year after that, he was discharged as a corporal corporation and returned to his house. "I thought of becoming a soldier because I did not like farmers very much, but when I went to Siberia at that time, I guess I was going to have a different fate than before." This article  reports that he died July 26, 2006, the oldest male in the prefecture. This sounds like he could be one of, if not the last Japanese WWI vet. Lemunz (talk) 22:32, 5 December 2018 (UTC)
thread_title: China and Japan

message: According to gerontology researchers who thoroughly examined the life of Jiroemon Kimura (1897-2013)  (see this link  )  who at his death was the oldest verified man in the world and last known man to have been born in the 19th century, official government records show he served as a conscript in the Imperial Japanese Army with a communications unit on three brief occasions, from April 1–June 30, 1918, from September 1–September 21, 1919 and finally from September 1–September 21, 1921. This would make him the verified last surviving veteran of World War I, not Florence Green.
- Aumnamahashiva (talk) 00:29, 4 December 2021 (UTC)
replies: text: True enough. It appears the researchers were granted singular access by Kimura and his family to review his personal records in detail. Extraordinary claim, to be sure, but does this peer-reviewed study on its own (presuming it is WP:RS)  at least merit putting a footnote on this article noting Kimura's possible status, that Green may not have been the last veteran, or something to that effect? What further proof would be preferable? (as I see one or two of the references for other presumed last veterans are perhaps questionable) Aumnamahashiva (talk) 03:21, 4 December 2021 (UTC)
replies: text:  I'd say a footnote such as you describe is certainly called for, probably hanging off of Yasuichi Sasaki's name in the list, to the effect that there is credible evidence that Kimura may well not only be the last surviving Japanese WWI veteran but if so, the last surviving veteran of the entire war.  I dropped a line on the Longevity WikiProject, figuring they'd be the best resource to help resolve this.   Ravenswing      07:36, 4 December 2021 (UTC)
replies: text: Done, and thanks. Interested to see where this goes from here.Aumnamahashiva (talk) 13:32, 4 December 2021 (UTC)
replies: text:  Elegantly done.   Ravenswing      17:55, 4 December 2021 (UTC)
thread_title: Jiroemon Kimura - probable last surviving veteran?