LTC William F. Buckley Bill Buckley was born in Medford, MA on May 30, 1928. Colonel Buckley graduated from high school in 1947 and joined the US Army. Following two years of service as an enlisted MP he attended Officers Candidate School and was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in Armor. He later attended the Engineer Officer's Course at Ft Belvoir. VA, the Advanced Armor Officer's Course at Ft Knox, KY and the Intelligence School at Oberammergau, Germany.
Colonel Buckley served with the 1st Cavalry Division as a company commander during the Korean War. After the war he completed his studies and graduated from Boston University with a degree in Political Science. He was employed as a librarian in the Concord, Winchester and Lexington public libraries. In 1960, Bill joined the 320th Special Forces Detachment which became the 11th Special Forces Group and attended both Basic Airborne and the Special Forces Officers Course. He was assigned as an A- Detachment Commander and later as a B - Detachment Commander.
Colonel Buckley served in Vietnam with MACV as a Senior Advisor to the ARVN. He was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel in May 1969.
Buckley was employed by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) from 1955 to 1957 and again from 1965 until his untimely death. He served in many varied assignments all over the world. He was taken hostage from his last assignment in Beirut; Lebanon where he was the Political Officer/ Station Chief at the US Embassy. Colonel Buckley died after 15 months in captivity of illness and torture. His body was returned to the United States on December 28, 1991 and he was buried in Arlington National Cemetery with full military honors.
Among Colonel Buckley's Army awards are the Silver Star, Soldier's Medal, Bronze Star with "V", two Purple Hearts, Meritorious Service Medal, Combat Infantry Badge, and the Parachutist Badge. He also received the Vietnam Cross of Gallantry w/ Bronze Star from ARVN. Among his CIA awards are the Intelligence Star, Exceptional Service Medallion and Distinguished Intelligence Cross.
Among his civilian awards are the Freedom Foundation Award for Lexington Green Diorama, Collegium and Academy of Distinguished Alumni - Boston University. A memorial park - The William F. Buckley Memorial Park in Stoneham, MA is dedicated to his memory.
Colonel Buckley was single and left two sisters, Maureen Moroney, Joyce Wing and a longtime close friend, Beverly Surette.
Feb 13, 2008, Bill Blankenburg
sent:
The loss of our
loved ones never leaves us and justice seems to take
forever to punish those who do us harm. This morning
as you may have already heard on radio or TV news, a
key individual responsible for many acts of murder
and terror of so many Americans has been killed. The
death of Imad Mughniyeh has been confirmed. This
man, along with others, was responsible for the U.S.
Marine Barracks bombing in Lebanon in 1983 and the
kidnapping and murder of our beloved Chapter
namesake, William F. Buckley. This news may not
provide any sense of comfort, but will somehow
reinforce your hope of justice. We all share this
hope with you.
God Bless you all.
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