He devoted final years reminding Britain about war sacrifices; he was 113.
updated 1:50 p.m. ET July 18, 2009
LONDON - The world's oldest man, 113-year-old World War I veteran (退伍军人) Henry Allingham, died Saturday after spending his final years reminding Britain about the 9 million soldiers killed during the conflict.
Allingham was the last surviving (健在的) original member of the Royal Air Force (英国空军), which was formed in 1918. He made it a personal crusade (历史上的十字军东征，这里指运动) to talk about a conflict that wiped out (使精疲力竭) much of a generation. Though nearly blind, he would take the outstretched (伸出的) hands of visitors in both of his, gaze (凝视) into the eyes of children, veterans and journalists and deliver a message he wanted them all to remember.
"I want everyone to know," he told The Associated Press during an interview in November. "They died for us."
注： "Though nearly blind, he would take the outstretched hands of visitors in both of his, ..." 这里his后面省略了hands，避免与前面的hands重复，意思是：“尽管几近失明，他依然会用自己的双手握住访客伸出的手，……”