Joseph Buckley, World War II
Mary’s article of December 18, 1999, Christmas at the Junior Home, in the Open Market, described how Joe Buckley came to be at the Junior Home at the age of seven. When he left the Junior Home after he finished high school, he was given fifteen dollars. As he looked back toward his home of 11 years, he cried as he crossed the Huss Street bridge with all his belongings in a big trunk on his back. The policy was that upon graduation they were required to leave.
He was given a temporary job for two months at the pottery house provided that he be a catcher on their softball and baseball teams. At the Junior Home, Joe had been on several athletic teams.
In August, 1943, knowing that he would soon be drafted, he volunteered for the Marine Corps along with a classmate, Kenny Durham, and a good Tiffin friend, William “Bill” Long. At the time of his enlistment, Dr. Charles H. “Dad” Kernan, the beloved Junior Home superintendent, was chairman of the Draft Board.
The three young men along with others were sent to San Diego for basic training. Joe and Bill were assigned to communications school and would remain together until Bill was wounded on Okinawa in June, 1945.
Six more weeks of classroom and field training followed and then they went to Camp Pendleton into an infantry replacement group. Kenny went off to aviation training. According to Joe, they received a late Christmas present when they left on Dec. 26, 1943 to go overseas.
They thought they were going to join the Fifth Marine Division which was scheduled to invade Iwo Jima in two months, but their group veered from Hawaii, and they finally landed in French New Caledonia. From there they headed to Guadacanal as replacements for the First Division. They were, however, assigned to a new unit, the First Provisional Brigade which consisted of the 22nd and the 4th Marine Regiments.
At Guadacanal, intensive field training followed. Then, in concert with the battle-tested Third Division, the Brigade participated in the recapture of Guam in mid-June, 1944.
The Brigade returned to its base camp at Guadacanal where they became the core of a brand new infantry division, the Sixth. This division was the first and only infantry division ever formed completely outside the United States. The 22nd, and 4th marine regiments, the 29th Marine, fresh from North Carolina, and the 15th Marine, an artillery regiment were now members of the powerful Sixth.
Joe Buckley along with four of his closest Marine friends, all graduates of the same communication class and all corporals, were transferred to the 22nd . These friends were assigned to the same battalion, and three were later wounded on Okinawa. Joe was assigned to the company headquarters and became part of the regimental forward observation team. This team scouted out enemy positions. Joe said it was like viewing a moving picture show. The team did not suffer many casualties although early on, an officer was killed who raised his head at the wrong time.
The First and the Sixth Division, along with units of the Third Division, landed on Okinawa on April, 1945, Easter Sunday. Okinawa was heavily defended as it was the last major great fortress left before the Allies could invade Japan. Japan was so close that their air power became a major problem.
For a vivid description of the battle for Okinawa, see the Open Market issues of September 12, 19, and 26th, 1999 in the articles about Joe Dariano.
At Okinawa, the 6th Division lost 1,637 Marines. The 22nd flamboyant Marine commander, the legendary three-time Navy Cross Winner, Col. Harold Robert was killed by a sniper. The 10th Army Commander, Lt. General Simon Bolivar Buckner, the highest American officer to die in World War II, was killed as he inspected the forward lines from a Marine outpost. General “Vinegar” Joe Stillwell was his replacement. The battle ended in July, 1945, and the division returned to its new base on Guam,
Next week descriptions of the amazing meetings and associations of so many of his classmates and friends will be included. Many of them were casualties of the Okinawa campaign. It will conclude with a brief description of his life after he returned to Tiffin.
To be continued
– Percy