Evening star., 1945-06-19
vestigated and found impracticable
and dangerous.
Son Of Famous Soldier.

ooh VA oVhuICIs
Simon Bolivar Buckner, jr.. was
big bear of a man-and as tough
as he looked.
While serving in Alaska he walked
around in his undershirt in subzero
weather, and smashed the ice in a
bucket of water for his morning
shower.
On one occasion he swung jauntly
anead of weary column of march,
ing men-carrying several extra
packs and rifles belonging to those
many years younger who had
dropped from exhaustion.
Son of a famous soldier, editor
and statesman. Gen. Buckner was
a West Pointer who drove his troops
nard but shared their hardShips
He spoke in booming voice and
took pride in his great physical
strength,
A strict disciplinarian, Gen. Buck
ner personally looked after the well
fare of his men. When two types of
Arctic boots were proposed for use
in Alaska, he tried one kind on his
right foot and the other on his left,
going for long hikes over rocks and
ice to determine which type was
better for the soldiers. He also
tested sleeping bags when it was
go below zero.
He was a great outdoorsman and
an ardent hunter and fisherman.
Maker of Trick Phrases.
Accustomed to smoking two or
three packages OF cigarettes a day,
he would stop suddenly for as long
as three months to prove his will
power. A maker of trick phrases,
he once sent this message to avia-
tors who had destroyed a japanese
vessel: Congratulations to the sink
ers of the unmentionable stinkers." I"
Gen. Buckner insisted that the
way to speed the end Of the Pacific
war was:
Kill more Japs-and faster"
He had some practical experience
in killing Japanese while command
ing general of the Alaska Defense
Force. AS the builder of the de-
fenSes of Alaska and the nearby
Aleutians, he had surprises await
ing the japanese at Dutch Harbor
in 1912. He met and repulsed their
first attacks against the North
American continent.
Gen. Buckner had gone to the
North Pacific outpost in 1910 and
worked quietly behind the scenes,
building bases, fighting apathy,
weather and terrain.
On June 3, 1912, japanese bomb
ers hit Dutch Harbor, and a for
midible enemy fleet approached
Alaska from the west, but the
enemy was hit by planes from Gen.
Buckner's base and forced back to
bleak Attu ana Kiska.
Gen. Buckner received the Dis
tinguished Service Medal in 1943
for his Alaska work.
But there were two disappoint-
ments for Gen. Buckner-he did not
have the job of building the Alaska
Highway or the job of ousting the
enemy from Attu and Kiska.
Rose to Lieutenant General.
During his tour in Alaska, he rose
from colonel to lieutenant general.
He dropped from sight in June, 1914,
and began organization of the 10th
Army which invaded Okinawa last
spring.
During the early part of that
struggle, a japanese suicide plane
crashed into the water only 200
yards from the amphibious flagship
of Admiral Richmond Kelly Turner
while the admiral and Gen. Buckner
were on the bridge.
Gen. Buckner told of nearly being
captured by the japanese at Kiska
in June, 1912. He had flown there
five days before the Japanese ar
rived and had been forced to remain
for three days because of bad
weather. He finally got away May
80, and on June 4 the Japanese be-
gan occupying the island.
Gen. Buckner vas the son of
Simon Bolivar Buckner, an officer
in the Mexican War, a lieutenant
general in the Confederate Army,
onetime editor of the Louisville
Courier r-Journal, Govunor of Ken
lucky from 1887 to 1851 And caadi-
date for Vice President on the
sound-money Democratic ticket
that split away from the party fac
ton of William Jennings Bryan.
The Confederate general was the
first in his family to have the name
lof the famous South American lib.