General Simon Bolivar Buckner Jr.
U.S. Army, Tenth Army Killed In Action (KIA) at Itoman on Okinawa

Background
Simon Bolivar Buckner Jr. was born July 18, 1886 in Munfordville, Kentucky to parents Simon Bolivar Buckner and Delia Hayes Claiborne.

His father, Simon Bolivar Buckner graduated West Point and served in the U.S. Army and during the Civil War accepted a comission as a a Confederate Brigadier General until he surrenddered on February 16, 1862 at Fort Donelson to Union Brigadier General Ulysses S. Grant and became a Prisoner Of War (POW) until when exchanged on August 15, 1862 and returned to the Confederacy and promoted to the rank of Major General and joined General Bragg's Army of the Mississipi in Chattanooga, Tennessee and postwar became the Governor of Kentucky when Simon Bolivar Buckner Jr. was born. In 1896 at age 5, Buckner Jr. accompanied his father then age 73 during his Vice-Presidential canidate with Presidential canidate John M. Palmer for the National Democratic Party a splinter party that received just over 1% of the vote with William McKinley winning the elction.

As a youth, Buckner Jr. attended Virginia Military Institute (VMI) and graduated in 1904. At age 18, his father asked U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt to grant him an appointment to the United States Military Academy (USMA) at West Point.

When he turned 18 in the summer of 1904, his father asked President Theodore Roosevelt Jr. 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. During World War I, he served as a temporary Major, drilling discipline into aviator cadets.

Killed In Action
On June 18, 1945 Buckner went to the front lines at Itoman on southern Okinawa. He was the second highest ranking General killed during World War II. The Buckner Monument is large rock with a memorial marker atop at Itoman.

Recovery of Remains
Afterwards, his remains were recovered and buried on Okinawa. Postwar, his remains were transported to the United States for permanent burial.

Memorials
Buckner is buried at Frankfort Cemetery in Frankfort, Kentucky. His father, Simon Bolivar Buckner is buried nearby at section I, lot 464, grave 3.

On the hilltop he was killed at Itoman on southern Okinawa is a memorial dedicated to General Buckner (Buckner Monument). The memorial plaque reads: "Lt. General Simon Bolivar Buckner Jr Killed on this spot 18 June 1945 Battle of Okinawa."

On Okinawa, Nakagusuku Bay was named "Buckner Bay" in his honor. Fort Buckner, an Army sub-post of U.S. Marine Corps (USMC) Camp Foster on Okinawa, is the home to the 78th Signal Battalion and E Co. of the 53rd Signal Battalion and includes a small memorial dedicated to Buckner.

Awards
Distinguished Service Cross (DSC), Army Distinguished Service Medal, Navy Distinguished Service Medal and the Purple Heart, posthumously. Posthumously, Buckner was promoted to the rank of four-star General on July 19, 1954 by a Special Act of Congress under Public Law 83-508.

Relatives
Simon Bolivar Buckner (father)
Delia Hayes Claiborne Buckner (mother)
Lily Buckner Belknap (sister)

References
FindAGrave - Simon Bolivar Buckner, Sr (grave photo)
FindAGrave - Simon Bolivar Buckner, Jr (photo, grave photo)

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