Simon Bolivar Buckner Jr. | |
|---|---|
 Buckner as abrigadier general, 1940 | |
| Born | (1886-07-18)18 July 1886 Munfordville, Kentucky, United States |
| Died | 18 June 1945(1945-06-18) (aged 58) Okinawa, Japan |
| Allegiance | United States |
| Branch | United States Army |
| Service years | 1908–1945 (killed in action) |
| Rank | Lieutenant General General (posthumous) |
| Service number | 0-2730 |
| Unit | Infantry Branch |
| Commands | Tenth United States Army Alaska Defense Command 22nd Infantry Regiment |
| Conflicts | |
| Awards | Distinguished Service Cross Army Distinguished Service Medal Navy Distinguished Service Medal Purple Heart |
| Spouse | Adele Blanc Buckner |
| Relations | Simon Bolivar Buckner (father) |
Simon Bolivar Buckner Jr. (/ˈsaɪmənˈbɒlɪvərˈbʌknər/SY-mənBOL-i-vərBUK-nər; 18 July 1886 – 18 June 1945) was alieutenant general in theUnited States Army duringWorld War II who served in thePacific Theater. As commanding general ofAlaska Defense Command, Buckner commanded American-Canadian forces in theAleutian Islands campaign, including theBattle of Attu and theKiska Expedition. Following that assignment, he was promoted to command theTenth Army, which conducted the amphibious invasion of the Japanese island ofOkinawa in 1945. He was killed during the closing days of theBattle of Okinawa by enemy artillery fire, making him the highest-ranking United Statesmilitary officer lost to enemy fire during World War II.[1]
Buckner,Lesley J. McNair,Frank Maxwell Andrews, andMillard Harmon, all lieutenant generals at the time of their deaths, werethe highest-ranking Americans to be killed in World War II. Buckner and McNair were posthumously promoted to the rank of four-stargeneral on 19 July 1954, by a SpecialAct of Congress (Public Law 83-508).
Buckner was the son ofConfederate generalSimon Bolivar Buckner and his wife Delia Hayes Claiborne. Buckner and his father are named after the Venezuelan soldier and statesman,Simón Bolívar, who led what are currently the countries of Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Panama, Peru, and Bolivia to independence from the Spanish Empire. His father wasGovernor of Kentucky from 1887 to 1891, and was theGold Democratic Party's candidate forVice President of the United States in 1896.[2] Buckner was raised nearMunfordville, Kentucky, and accompanied his father on his 1896 presidential campaign when he served as the running mate of ex-Union generalJohn M. Palmer.
Buckner attended theVirginia Military Institute. When he turned 18 in the summer of 1904, his father asked PresidentTheodore Roosevelt to grant him an appointment toWest Point. Roosevelt granted this request and Buckner graduated in the class of 1908. He served two military tours in thePhilippines, and wrote about his adventures inTales of the Philippines – In the Early 1900s.[3] It was on a transport ship headed to Manila when he had a revelation about the importance of military service. Writing to his mother:
In civil life success is inseparably linked with money but in military life there is a much higher aim. To render the greatest possible service to his government is the duty of every officer, and this should be his highest ambition. The civilian works chiefly for himself and is considered successful according to what he has done for himself. The incentive which we have in our work is expressed in the motto of our Alma Mater, "Duty, Honor, Country", and it is far more satisfactory to have this before us than to feel that we are working purely from motives of self-interest.[4]
DuringWorld War I, he served as a temporary major, drilling discipline into aviator cadets.[5]
For the 17 years beginning May 1919, Buckner's assignments were not with troops but with military schools as follows: four years as tactical officer at theUnited States Military Academy,West Point, New York; one year as student atThe Infantry School atFort Benning, Georgia; four years at theCommand and General Staff School,Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas, with the first year as a student (distinguished graduate), then three years as instructor; four years at theArmy War College, Washington, D.C., with year one as student then three years as executive officer; four more years at West Point, as Assistant Commandant and Commandant of Cadets. At West Point, "His rule is remembered for constructive progressiveness, with a share of severity tempered with hard, sound sense, and justice."[6] However, one cadet's parent commented: "Buckner forgets cadets are born, not quarried."[5]
Buckner was with troops for the rest of his career. In September 1936 he became executive officer of the23rd Infantry Regiment atFt. Sam Houston in Texas. Promoted to colonel in January 1937, he was given command of the66th Infantry (Light Tank) at Ft. Meade in Maryland. In September 1938, he commanded of the 22nd Infantry atFt. McClellan, Alabama. From November 1939 to August 1940 he was Chief of Staff of the 6th Division atCamp Jackson in South Carolina, Ft. Benning in Georgia, andCamp Beauregard in Louisiana.[6]
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Buckner was promoted tobrigadier general in 1940 and was assigned to fortify and protect Alaska as commander of the Army'sAlaska Defense Command. He was promoted tomajor general in August 1941. He became known as a hard, tough leader, sleeping under a single sheet no matter how cold it was and denying his men the use of under arm deodorants, declaring that a man should smell like a man.[6]
The Japanese launched a surpriseattack onDutch Harbor 3–5 June 1942; farther west, Imperial Japanese forces seized the islandsKiska andAttu, bringing ashore some 7,000 troops (at Kiska) and nearly 3,000 at Attu. American commanders, including Buckner, feared that the Japanese would use the islands as bases to strike within range along the rest of theUS West Coast.Lieutenant Paul Bishop of the28th Bombardment Group recalled that:
General Simon B. Buckner Jr. said to us that the Japanese would have the opportunity to set upairbases in the Aleutians, making coastal cities likeAnchorage,Seattle, andSan Francisco vulnerable within range to attack by their bombers. The fear of that scenario was real at the time because the Japanese were nearly invincible and ruthless in Asia and the Pacific. We knew that theybombed China relentlessly andby surprise on Pearl Harbor, so we had to make sure it wouldn't happen here in the continental U.S. similar to what the Germansdid over London and Coventry.[7]
Buckner gave orders in June 1942 for the indigenous Aleut people to be evacuated and for their villages to be burned. The Aleut people were not allowed to return until 1945, after the war was over.[8] Buckner furthermore objected to the deployment of African American troops in Alaska, writing to his superiors of his concern that they would remain after the war, "with the natural result that they would interbreed with the Indians and the Eskimos and produce an astonishingly objectionable race of mongrels which would be a problem".[9]
The campaign to take back Attu Island took nearly a year. TheBattle for Attu, Operation Landcrab, occurred across three weeks in May 1943. The casualties on both sides were high. On shore, some 549 US soldiers were killed, 1,148 were wounded, and 1,814 suffered cold and disease. Of the 2,900 Japanese garrison, only 28 survived.
The loyal courage, vigorous energy and determined fortitude of our armed forces in Alaska—on land, in the air and on the water—have turned back the tide of Japanese invasion, ejected the enemy from our shores and made a fortress of our last frontier. But this is only the beginning. We have opened the road toTokyo; the shortest, most direct and most devastating to our enemies. May we soon travel that road to victory.
— Lieutenant General Simon Bolivar Buckner Jr., a few months after the Aleutian Islands Campaign[10]
Subsequently, in August 1943, Kiska was invaded by Canadian and US soldiers. However, its Japanese garrison had been secretly withdrawn under cover of fog prior to the arrival of Allied forces. Allied commanders refused to believe that the Japanese could have completely evacuated Kiska. For eight days, troops searched the island, firing into the dense fog and sometimes accidentally shooting their comrades. The bombardment and invasion of the deserted island was written off as a "training exercise", and the Aleutian Campaign officially ended after 439 days of warfare. In 1943, Buckner was promoted tolieutenant general.[6]
In July 1944, Buckner was sent to Hawaii to organize theTenth Army, which was composed of both Army and Marine Corps units. The original mission of the Tenth Army was to prepare forOperation Causeway, the invasion of Taiwan. However, this operation was canceled, and Buckner's command was instead ordered to prepare for theBattle of Okinawa. Beginning on April 1, 1945, this turned out to be one of the largest, slowest, and bloodiest sea–land–air battles in American military history. Despite historic amphibious assets, Buckner insisted on a frontal assault on the dug-in Japanese; though extremely costly in American lives, his strategy was ultimately successful. Late in the battle, Buckner failed to realize that the Japanese were pulling back to a secondary defensive line, allowing the Japanese to avoid destruction and escape with a significant force. Reducing this force in the southern part of the island cost enormous casualties, especially among the civilian population, who were trapped in the battle zone. Total American deaths during the battle of Okinawa were 12,513.
A quote of his from 1945 was reported in the newspapers back home when he said that he intended to Christianize the Japanese and that "the best way to do that was to give them a Christian burial".[11]
On June 18, Buckner arrived in his command jeep which was flying its standard 3-star flag to visit a forward observation post on a ridge approximately 300 yards (270 m) behind the front lines, as Marine infantry advanced on the Japanese-held Ibaru Ridge. Visits from the general were not always welcome as his presence frequently drew enemy fire, usually as he was departing. Buckner had arrived with his standard three stars showing on the front of his steel helmet and a nearby Marine outpost sent a signal to Buckner's position stating that they could clearly see the general's three stars on his helmet. Told of this, Buckner replaced his own helmet with an unmarked one.[12][13]
As Buckner stood at the outpost, a small flat-trajectory Japanese artillery shell of unknown caliber (estimated to have been 47mm) struck a coral rock outcrop near him, and fragments pierced his chest.[14][15] Buckner was carried by stretcher to a nearby aid station, where he died on the operating table. He was succeeded in command by Marine GeneralRoy Geiger.
Buckner was the highest-ranking American military officer killed during World War II, and he remained the highest-ranked officer killed in action until the death of Lieutenant GeneralTimothy Maude during theSeptember 11 attacks in 2001.
Buckner was married to Adele Blanc Buckner (1893–1988). They had three children: Simon Bolivar Buckner III, Mary Blanc Buckner, and William Claiborne Buckner.[citation needed]
Named in honor of Buckner:
Buckner's military decorations and awards include:
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| Insignia | Rank | Component | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| No insignia | Cadet | USMA | 16 June 1904 |
| No insignia in 1908 | Second Lieutenant | Regular Army | 14 February 1908 |
 | First Lieutenant | Regular Army | 5 August 1914 |
 | Captain | Regular Army | 5 May 1917 |
 | Major | Temporary | 5 August 1917 |
| Captain | Regular Army | 21 August 1919 |
| Major | Regular Army | 1 July 1920 |
 | Lieutenant Colonel | Regular Army | 1 April 1932 |
 | Colonel | Regular Army | 11 January 1937 |
 | Brigadier General | Regular Army | 1 September 1940 |
 | Major General | Army of the United States | 4 August 1941 |
 | Lieutenant General | Army of the United States | 4 May 1943 |
 | General | Posthumous | 19 July 1954 |
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| Military offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| New command | Commanding General of the Tenth United States Army 1944–1945 | Succeeded by |
