Simon Bolivar Buckner Jr.
| Simon Bolivar Buckner Jr. | |
|---|---|
Buckner in Okinawa
|
|
| Born |
July 18, 1886 Munfordville, Kentucky, U.S. |
| Died | June 18, 1945 (aged 58) Okinawa, Japan |
| Allegiance |  United States of America |
| Service/branch |
 United States Army
|
| Years of service | 1908–1945 |
| Rank |
 General (posthumous) |
| Commands held |
22nd Infantry Regiment Alaska Defense Command Tenth United States Army |
| Battles/wars | |
| Awards |
Army Distinguished Service Medal Navy Distinguished Service Medal Purple Heart |
Simon Bolivar Buckner Jr. (July 18, 1886 – June 18, 1945) was a lieutenant general in the United States Army during World War II. He served in the Pacific Theater of Operations and commanded the defenses of Alaska early in the war. Following that assignment, he was promoted to command the 10th Army, which conducted the amphibious assault on the Japanese island of Okinawa on April 1, 1945. He was killed during the closing days of the Battle of Okinawa by enemy artillery fire, making him the highest-ranking U.S. military officer lost to enemy fire during World War II.
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).
Buckner was the son of Confederate general Simon Bolivar Buckner and his wife Delia Hayes Claiborne. His father was Governor of Kentucky from 1887 to 1891, and was the Gold Democratic Party's candidate for U.S. Vice President in 1896. Buckner was raised near Munfordville, Kentucky and accompanied his father on his 1896 presidential campaign when he served as the running mate of ex-Union general John M. Palmer.
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