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May 21, 2004 |
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May 21, 2004 |
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Still going strong:
Academy's second oldest grad enjoying life at 102
By
Lisa Toth
Special to the Pointer View
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There’s
only one person in the world who can say he was the first American prisoner of
war during World War II.
At
102 years old, retired Col.
As
a major, he was working as a military observer with the British Eighth Army, 5th
South African Brigade in
“When
you get captured, there’s a terrific loss of morale,” Buckley says.
The
prisoners were turned over by the Germans to the Italians and housed in POW
camps in Italy, after Italy declared war against the United States.
“It
wasn’t a prison. It was barracks,” says Buckley’s granddaughter Mary
Pope-Handy of Los Gatos. “And the prisoners were often hungry. Families were
allowed to send food, but many times the prisoners never received the
packages.”
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Part
of the reason Buckley initially didn’t receive any packages was because his
family had no idea what had happened to him. They eventually got word of his
location through church officials.
While
Buckley was an Italian prisoner, he was in the company of Harold Denny, a New
York Times war correspondent known for writing anti-Nazi pieces. The two
were placed in separate rooms and prohibited from talking.
Denny
later wrote a 1942 book titled Behind Both Lines. Buckley and Denny were
eventually exchanged, and Buckley was released to the American Embassy in Rome
in May of 1942, and returned to the U.S. by means of the Drottingham -- a
Norwegian ship -- where he said he ate to his heart’s content.
Buckley
has lived in Saratoga for the past year and a half, he says, to be closer to his
family. He has lived through the automobile becoming “almost the sole means of
transportation.” He has lived through the lives of his favorite
politicians—the 26th U.S. President, Theodore Roosevelt, and California
Governor and U.S. Senator Hiram Johnson.
He
has lived for more than a century.
Buckley
was born May 17, 1902, and just turned 102.
“It’s
no achievement,” Buckley admits. “You live long enough, and it just
happens.”
One
of the downsides of living past 100, Pope-Handy said, is that her grandfather
has buried not only his spouse and many friends, but most of his children.
Pope-Handy said she visits her grandfather at least two times a week.
“We’re
a tight-knit family overall,” she says. “He has 15 great-grandchildren, and
12 grandkids.”
Buckley
married Eleanor Fletcher on July 1, 1926, in the Philippines. Buckley still
remembers the exact date. They were married for just over 73 years.
Still
sharp and stubborn, he listens to the news via a radio as well as books on tape.
Buckley watched his grandnephew, Tom Brady, the quarterback of the New England
Patriots, lead his team to narrow victory in this year’s Super Bowl.
“The
whole Buckley clan is now in reflected glory,” said Buckley, chuckling. “But
[Tom’s] getting all the fame.”
Despite
vision and hearing problems, Buckley watched the game with family members, and
said he enjoys a regular stream of relatives and visitors at the Saratoga
Retirement Community where he lives.
“I
think he’s just fascinating,” said Roma Rieker, who also lives at the
Saratoga Retirement Community. “I have dinner with him occasionally. He has a
wonderful sense of humor, and he’s still so full of life .”
Editor’s note: Lisa Toth is a reporter for the Los Gatos Weekly-Times and Saratoga News. Her article, reprinted here with permission, appeared in the Saratoga