Now all roads lead to France and heavy is the tread
Of the living; but the dead returning lightly dance.
Edward Thomas, Roads

Sunday, February 25, 2018

Incredible: He Claimed To Have Survived Napoleon's March on Moscow and the Great War


Poland’s Oldest Soldier
 M. Krasinski, who claimed to American Red Cross relief workers in Kiev that he was a veteran of Napoleon’s Moscow campaign, that he was born in 1792 and was 128 years old. 
Photo from American National Red Cross Collection, 10 August 1920

 (Revised 2 March 2018 at the behest of our skeptical readers. Personally, I think he looks 128, but the oldest person on record ever was 122, so I'm guessing the skeptics are correct and Sergeant Krasinski was fibbing a bit.)

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9 comments:

  1. Bryan AlexanderFebruary 25, 2018 at 10:09 AM

    !!!!!!!
    It's a great story, at least.

    ReplyDelete
  2. bill o'neillFebruary 25, 2018 at 3:16 PM

    Hmmmm?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. AnonymousFebruary 25, 2018 at 7:59 PM

      Skepticism here too. Details lacking. Who wrote this anyway?

      Delete
    2. AnonymousFebruary 25, 2018 at 8:23 PM

      Ok I found a U.S. Library of Congress reference that M. Krasinski made a CLAIM to the American Red Cross that he was 128 years old (and veteran of both conflicts).

      https://www.loc.gov/item/2017677697/

      If you asked my father (who died at 86 years of age) how old he was, you would get a different answer every day. Not all references are truth. I remain skeptical.

      Delete
  3. Michael BertinettiFebruary 25, 2018 at 11:25 PM

    Brings to mind the old Wall Street saying, " Important news if true."

    ReplyDelete
  4. AnonymousMarch 23, 2018 at 3:14 AM

    I like the idea

    ReplyDelete
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  6. UnknownMay 10, 2019 at 12:03 PM

    In pre-Soviet Russia records were poorly kept, if at all. Most peasants were illiterate. Many would not have been sure how old they were. Although it's highly unlikely this individual would have been as old as he claimed, it's possibly he was a bit of a village celebrity and made up some story about fighting against Napoleon.

    ReplyDelete

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