Simon Bolivar Buckner Jr. | |
|---|---|
 Buckner as a brigadier general in 1940 | |
| Born | July 18, 1886 Munfordville, Kentucky, United States |
| Died | June 18, 1945 (aged 58) Okinawa, Japan |
| Allegiance | United States |
| Service | United States Army |
| Years of service | 1908–1945 (killed in action) |
| Rank | General (posthumous) |
| Service number | 0-2730 |
| Unit | Infantry Branch |
| Commands | Tenth United States Army Alaska Defense Command 22nd Infantry Regiment |
| Battles / wars | World War I |
| Awards | Distinguished Service Cross Army Distinguished Service Medal Navy Distinguished Service Medal Purple Heart |
| Spouse(s) | Adele Blanc Buckner |
| Relations | Simon Bolivar Buckner (father) |
Simon Bolivar Buckner Jr. (/ˈsaɪmən ˈbɒlɪvər ˈbʌknər/ SY-mən BOL-i-vər BUK-nər; July 18, 1886 – June 18, 1945) was a lieutenant general in the United States Army during World War II who served in the Pacific Theater. As commanding general of Alaska Defense Command, Buckner commanded American-Canadian forces in the Aleutian Islands campaign, including the Battle of Attu and the Kiska Expedition. Following that assignment, he was promoted to command the Tenth Army, which conducted the amphibious invasion of the Japanese island of Okinawa in 1945. He was killed during the closing days of the Battle of Okinawa by enemy artillery fire, making him the highest-ranking United States military officer lost to enemy fire during World War II.[1]
Buckner, Lesley J. McNair, Frank Maxwell Andrews, and Millard Harmon, all lieutenant generals at the time of their deaths, were the highest-ranking Americans to be killed in World War II. Buckner and McNair were posthumously promoted to the rank of four-star general on July 19, 1954, by a Special Act of Congress (Public Law 83-508).
- ^ Sarantakes p. 129