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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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