That's it, last American Titanic survivor dies

[Ralph]

Last U.S. Titanic survivor dies
'The little ones were cuddling close to one another'

BOSTON, Massachusetts (AP) -- Lillian Gertrud Asplund, the last American survivor of the sinking of the Titanic in 1912, has died, a funeral home said Sunday. She was 99.

Asplund, who was just 5 years old, lost her father and three brothers -- including a fraternal twin -- when the "practically unsinkable" ship went down in the North Atlantic after hitting an iceberg.

She died Saturday at her home in Shrewsbury, said Ronald E. Johnson, vice president of the Nordgren Memorial Chapel in Worcester, Massachusetts.

"She went to sleep peacefully," he said.

Asplund's mother, Selma, and another brother, Felix, who was 3, also survived the Titanic sinking in the early morning of April 15, 1912.

Asplund was the last Titanic survivor with actual memories of the sinking, but she shunned publicity and rarely spoke about the events.

At least two other survivors are living, but they were too young to have memories of the disaster. Barbara Joyce West Dainton of Truro, England, was 10 months old and Elizabeth Gladys "Millvina" Dean of Southampton, England, was 2 months old.
What her mother remembered

The Asplund family had boarded the ship in Southampton, England, as third-class passengers on their way back to Worcester from their ancestral homeland, Sweden, where they had spent several years.

Asplund's mother described the sinking in an interview with the Worcester Telegram & Gazette newspaper shortly after she and her two children arrived in the city.

Selma Asplund said the family went to the Titanic's upper deck after the ship struck the iceberg.

"I could see the icebergs for a great distance around ... It was cold and the little ones were cuddling close to one another and trying to keep from under the feet of the many excited people ... My little girl, Lillie, accompanied me, and my husband said 'Go ahead, we will get into one of the other boats.' He smiled as he said it."

Because they lost all of their possessions and money, the city of Worcester held a fundraiser and a benefit concert that together brought in about $2,000 for the surviving Asplunds.

Lillian Asplund never married and worked at secretarial jobs in the Worcester area most of her life. She retired early to care for her mother, who was described as having never gotten over the tragedy.

Selma Asplund died on the 52nd anniversary of the sinking in 1964 at age 91. Felix Asplund died on March 1, 1983, at age 73.

A memorial service will be held Wednesday, Johnson said.

[Gregory Kleyn]

Of what significance is this event?

[Ralph]

Of what significance is this event?

*****

Well, some of us are Titanic buffs and were so long before the latest flick. I have lots of Titanic books and recent videotapes and DVDs. And I know others like me, all of whom are lawabiding, generally decent persons. So as with ANY thread here, it can be ignored by those who don't care about the 1912 event and the thread's title clearly alerts any CMGer to the subject.

Do you remember when the very last Civil War veteran died? I do and it was a poignant albeit brief moment for a lot of Americans.

[jbuck919]

Of what significance is this event?

It is significant enough that Ralph wished to share it with us, and I read it with great interest. The Titanic sinking may be the most significant non-wartime non-natural disaster in history and continues to have its revisionist history. Among things I have heard/read recently, it was (in addition to its already well known design flaws) made with substandard steel, and, as the article above alludes to, it steamed into a veritable mine field of icebergs where it would have been a miracle if it had not struck one (and was a marvel, apparently, that the Carpathia got there without striking another).

[Ralph]

Of what significance is this event?

It is significant enough that Ralph wished to share it with us, and I read it with great interest. The Titanic sinking may be the most significant non-wartime non-natural disaster in history and continues to have its revisionist history. Among things I have heard/read recently, it was (in addition to its already well known design flaws) made with substandard steel, and, as the article above alludes to, it steamed into a veritable mine field of icebergs where it would have been a miracle if it had not struck one (and was a marvel, apparently, that the Carpathia got there without striking another).

*****

Captain Rostron of the Carpathia was brave AND cautious and he had the advantage of lookouts WITH binoculars, the Titanic's having been inexplicably left behind. Had the lookouts been properly equipped the berg would have been spotted in time and evaded.

[jbuck919]

Of what significance is this event?

*****


Do you remember when the very last Civil War veteran died? I do and it was a poignant albeit brief moment for a lot of Americans.

I will probably be around when the last American WW I vet dies, and I can remember when they rode with their VA caps in a a place of honor in parades on civic holidays. And one of them was my (very) late grandfather.

[Ralph]

Of what significance is this event?

*****


Do you remember when the very last Civil War veteran died? I do and it was a poignant albeit brief moment for a lot of Americans.

I will probably be around when the last American WW I vet dies, and I can remember when they rode with their VA caps in a a place of honor in parades on civic holidays. And one of them was my (very) late grandfather.

*****

My father was a WWI vet too. But he was on the wrong side.

[Donald Isler]

In 1938, which was not all that long before some of us were born (and some years AFTER at least two regular posters were born!) President Roosevelt went to Gettysburg for the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg. It was attended by lots of veterans of both sides, in their 90's and beyond. I've seen the photos at the museum.

[Ralph]

In 1938, which was not all that long before some of us were born (and some years AFTER at least two regular posters were born!) President Roosevelt went to Gettysburg for the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg. It was attended by lots of veterans of both sides, in their 90's and beyond. I've seen the photos at the museum.

*****

There's also a book of photos to commemorate The Last Encampment as it's called. The Army was in charge of feeding and housing the men and it was quite a moving event.

[Mark Antony Owen]

To return to the topic of the Titanic tragedy, my wife and I visited the Southampton Maritime Muesum last Sunday, to see their exhibition of artifacts relating to the disaster. It was extremely moving, nay, upsetting. A thing I found particularly callous was the attitude of White Star Line (which reminds me: never do banking business with J P Morgan), who ceased paying the Titanic's sailors from the moment the ship got into trouble. It's all there, on the actual pay records of the crew! Disgusting.

Still, the sinking did at least bring benefits - among the most important of which must surely be that all ships subsequently had to carry enough lifeboats for all passengers.

[Ralph]

To return to the topic of the Titanic tragedy, my wife and I visited the Southampton Maritime Muesum last Sunday, to see their exhibition of artifacts relating to the disaster. It was extremely moving, nay, upsetting. A thing I found particularly callous was the attitude of White Star Line (which reminds me: never do banking business with J P Morgan), who ceased paying the Titanic's sailors from the moment the ship got into trouble. It's all there, on the actual pay records of the crew! Disgusting.

Still, the sinking did at least bring benefits - among the most important of which must surely be that all ships subsequently had to carry enough lifeboats for all passengers.

*****

Under English law at the time when a ship sank the crew was unemployed as of that moment. It wasn't just the White Star Line.

[Mark Antony Owen]

To return to the topic of the Titanic tragedy, my wife and I visited the Southampton Maritime Muesum last Sunday, to see their exhibition of artifacts relating to the disaster. It was extremely moving, nay, upsetting. A thing I found particularly callous was the attitude of White Star Line (which reminds me: never do banking business with J P Morgan), who ceased paying the Titanic's sailors from the moment the ship got into trouble. It's all there, on the actual pay records of the crew! Disgusting.

Still, the sinking did at least bring benefits - among the most important of which must surely be that all ships subsequently had to carry enough lifeboats for all passengers.

*****

Under English law at the time when a ship sank the crew was unemployed as of that moment. It wasn't just the White Star Line.

Still stinks.

[Ralph]

To return to the topic of the Titanic tragedy, my wife and I visited the Southampton Maritime Muesum last Sunday, to see their exhibition of artifacts relating to the disaster. It was extremely moving, nay, upsetting. A thing I found particularly callous was the attitude of White Star Line (which reminds me: never do banking business with J P Morgan), who ceased paying the Titanic's sailors from the moment the ship got into trouble. It's all there, on the actual pay records of the crew! Disgusting.

Still, the sinking did at least bring benefits - among the most important of which must surely be that all ships subsequently had to carry enough lifeboats for all passengers.

*****

Under English law at the time when a ship sank the crew was unemployed as of that moment. It wasn't just the White Star Line.

Still stinks.

*****

This was a year after the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire and not that long after the General Slocum disaster. Safety was never important and neither was protecting workers.

[Corlyss_D]

A thing I found particularly callous was the attitude of White Star Line (which reminds me: never do banking business with J P Morgan), who ceased paying the Titanic's sailors from the moment the ship got into trouble. It's all there, on the actual pay records of the crew! Disgusting.

You haven't heard the worst of it. White Star billed the victims families for their uniforms lost in the sinking. The fact the sailors held up in NYC for the investigation were penniless and living on the kindness of strangers in no way impressed Mr. Ismay.

[Ralph]

A thing I found particularly callous was the attitude of White Star Line (which reminds me: never do banking business with J P Morgan), who ceased paying the Titanic's sailors from the moment the ship got into trouble. It's all there, on the actual pay records of the crew! Disgusting.

You haven't heard the worst of it. White Star billed the victims families for their uniforms lost in the sinking. The fact the sailors held up in NYC for the investigation were penniless and living on the kindness of strangers in no way impressed Mr. Ismay.

*****

So who owned the uniforms? Who was responsible for them?

[Mark Antony Owen]

Plus, the widows of the sailors lost received their pensions via a CHARITY! What's that all about? I know we're talking a long time ago, but it's just brimming over with wrong-ability!