Quick Facts
Biography
Michael Buckley Jr. (17 May 1902 – 17 August 2006) was the oldest living graduate of West Point at the time of his death and the first American prisoner of war during World War II when as a United States Army major he was captured near Tobruk by German Nazi military forces under the command of Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, on 23 November 1941, two weeks prior to the United States entering this global conflict after the 7 December 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor.
Early life and education
Buckley Jr. was born in Bisbee, Arizona Territory, on 17 May 1902 to Michael and Barbara Lally Buckley and grew up in Coalinga, California where he attended and graduated from, in 1919, Coalinga High School, and who, also, was the great uncle of the American football quarterback for the New England Patriots of the National Football League (NFL) Tom Brady.
Early military career
In 1919, Buckley Jr. attended the United States Military Academy at West Point (New York) graduating with the class of 1923 and receiving his commission in the Field Artillery Branch of the United States Army.
Prisoner of war
In the fall of 1941, and while holding the rank of Major, Buckley Jr. was sent to Egypt as an observer of the British forces fighting against the combined Italian and German armies under the command of Field Marshal Erwin Rommel.
On 23 November 1941, Buckley Jr. was with the 5th South African Brigade who were advancing on Tobruk when Rommel's panzer forces overran their position and he was captured.
As an unarmed non-combatant, Buckley Jr. should have been released, but after Pearl Harbor (that occurred two weeks after his capture) he was interned in Italy until freed by a prisoner exchange in May 1942, thus making him the first American soldier to be held as a prisoner of war during World War II.
World War II and later military service
After being freed from German captivity, in May, 1942, Buckley Jr. spent the remainder of World War II on the U.S. Army planning staff of General Lesley McNair in Washington, D.C., after which he then served in the Occupation of Japan.
In 1953, while holding the rank of Colonel, Buckley Jr. became Professor of Military Science and Tactics for the ROTC program at Santa Clara University, California, and where he retired from his military service in 1954.
Educational career, family, and death
After his retirement from the U.S. Army 1954, Buckley Jr. taught mathematics at Santa Clara University until 1968, and where he lived his wife, the former Eleanor Fletcher, until her death in 1999 after 73 years of marriage.
Buckley Jr. had 6 children, only two of whom survived until his death on 17 August 2006, at the age of 104. At the time of his death, Buckley Jr. was the oldest living graduate of West Point.