Simon Bolivar Buckner Jr.

Simon Bolivar Buckner Jr.
Buckner as a brigadier general in 1940
Born	(1886-07-18)July 18, 1886 Munfordville, Kentucky, United States
Died	June 18, 1945(1945-06-18) (aged 58) Okinawa, Japan
Allegiance	United States
Service/branch	United States Army
Years of service	1908–1945 (killed in action)
Rank	General (posthumous)
Service number	0-2730
Unit	Infantry Branch
Commands held	Tenth United States Army Alaska Defense Command 22nd Infantry Regiment
Battles/wars	Philippine–American War World War I World War II Aleutian Islands campaign Battle of Attu Volcano and Ryukyu Islands campaign Battle of Okinawa †
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 one of the highest-ranking United States military officers 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).