Victor R. Buckett

Description

Victor Robert Buckett

Victor was born April 10, 1922 in Mamaroneck, NY. He married Dorothy Burger in 1947. By 1955 he was raising his family (Bonnie, Billy and Barry) in Rye. In the mid 80’s he and Dottie moved to Florida. He died November 2015 after 68 years of marriage.

Victor enlisted in the Navy September 1942 and was discharged in February 1946. He was awarded the Purple Heart, American Theatre Ribbon, Asiatic Pacific Theatre Ribbon (9 stars), Victory Medal, Good Conduct Medal, Navy Unit Citation Ribbon and Combat Action Ribbon. In 2018 the ship received the Congressional Gold Medal.

After boot camp Victor was sent to Treasure Island in San Francisco. He served on a merchant ship for two months in Pearl Harbor and then assigned to the
USS Indianapolis CA-35. The Indy was out of port when Pearl Harbor was bombed.

Victor was assigned to the “N” division where he his duties included typing the navy log and war diary. He also sang in the ship’s band. He saw action in the Aleutian Islands, Gilberts-Marshall campaign, the Marianas, Iwo Jima and Okinawa. While fighting at Okinawa the ship was hit by a suicide plane which sent them back to the US for damage repair. It was there that the ship was sent on a secret mission to carry the components of the atomic bomb to Tinian. After delivering the parts, the ship was sunk on its way back to Leyte.

The navy was unaware of the Indy sinking. 1195 men were on board, they estimate that 900 made it into the water. After 5 nights and 4 days, 316 men were picked up by one plane and 6 rescue vessels. Fortunately, Victor was one of the survivors. He was assigned to Washington, DC to help Captain McVay with war records until his discharge in February of 1946.