Buckner attended the
Virginia Military Institute. When he turned 18 in the summer of 1904, his father asked President
Theodore Roosevelt to grant him an appointment to
West Point. Roosevelt granted this request and Buckner graduated in the class of 1908. He served two military tours in the
Philippines, and wrote about his adventures in
Tales of the Philippines – In the Early 1900s. It was on a transport ship headed to Manila when he had a revelation about the importance of military service. Writing to his mother: During
World War I, he served as a temporary major, drilling discipline into aviator cadets.
Inter-war period 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 the
United States Military Academy,
West Point, New York; one year as student at
The Infantry School at
Fort Benning, Georgia; four years at the
Command and General Staff School,
Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas, with the first year as a student (distinguished graduate), then three years as instructor; four years at the
Army 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." However, one cadet's parent commented: "Buckner forgets cadets are born, not quarried." 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". The campaign to take back Attu Island took nearly a year. The
Battle 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. 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 However, its Japanese garrison had been secretly withdrawn under cover of fog prior to the arrival of Allied forces.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 to
lieutenant general. On May 29, 1945, Marines from Company A,
1st Battalion,
5th Marine Regiment (nicknamed the "Rebel Company") captured the ruins of
Shuri Castle. Lacking a U.S. flag at the time,
Captain Julian D. Dusenbury raised a small
Confederate battle flag he had carried in his helmet. The flag flew for two to three days. Upon hearing of it, Buckner ordered it taken down, stating it was inappropriate because "Americans from all over are involved in this battle". The regulation replaced it with
48-star flag of the United States.
Death 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 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. 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. Buckner was carried by stretcher to a nearby aid station, where he died on the operating table. He was succeeded in command by Marine General
Roy 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 General
Timothy Maude during the
September 11 attacks in 2001. ==Personal life==