BUCKLEY, LOUIS JR.

Name: Louis Buckley, Jr.
Rank/Branch: E5/US Army
Unit: Mortar Platoon, Company C, 1st Battalion (Airborne), 12th Cavalry
Date of Birth: 20 May 1943
Home City of Record: Detroit MI
Loss Date: 21 May 1966
Country of Loss: South Vietnam
Loss Coordinates: 141048N 1083002E (BR664628)
Status (in 1973): Missing In Action
Category: 2
Acft/Vehicle/Ground: Ground
Refno: 0344
Other Personnel in Incident: (none missing)

Source: Compiled from one or more of the following: raw data from U.S.
Government agency sources, correspondence with POW/MIA families,
published sources, interviews. Updated by the P.O.W. NETWORK in 2020.

REMARKS:

SYNOPSIS: Sgt. Louis Buckley was attached to a mortar platoon based at An
Khe, South Vietnam. The day after his 33rd birthday, Buckley's 22 man
platoon was inserted by helicopter to LZ Hereford, located northeast of An
Khe near the Song Ba River. The platoon was to provide continuous fire
support for C Company's sweep of the area lying between LZ Hereford and LZ
Milton to the south.
 
Everything went without a hitch, and around 1200 hours, the platoon prepared
to be picked up to rejoin the rest of the Company at the bottom of the
valley. Helicopters were inbound when mortar platoon members saw a number of
enemy soldiers five meters away, and opened fire with their M16s. As if by
signal, other enemy located on a hill about 300 meters away poured a hail of
machinegun, mortar and rocket launcher fire onto the platoon's position. The
platoon's 81mm mortar was knocked out almost immediately, and the platoon,
taking heavy casualties, called for help.

The company commander immediately ordered his 1st Platoon to get up the
hill, and led the rest of the company, scrambling, sliding and falling in a
desperate effort to reach the mortar platoon. The commander did not realize
until later the scope of the attack and that his entire company might have
been in a classic ambush. The enemy had watched patiently until the
Americans felt confident that the LZ was secure, and they launched their
attack. The mortar company had 6 wounded, 15 dead and one missing.

The Viet Cong on top of the hill divided into two groups to search for the
remaining Americans, loot the dead and grab what arms and munitions they
could. Just 35 minutes after the first call for help, the enemy was gone,
and so was Sgt. Louis Buckley. His pack was found with blood on it. He was
declared Missing In Action. Survivors reported seeing Sgt. Buckley
withdrawing at a southwesterly direction by himself. He is reported to have
had blood on his shirt and arm, although it is not known for certain if he
was wounded.

Buckley is one of nearly 2500 Americans who are still missing from the
Vietnam war. Unlike MIAs from other wars, where many men were lost at sea
and could not be recovered, most of the missing in Vietnam can be accounted
for. Tragically, "several million documents" and over "250,000 interviews"
(State Department report, November 1988) are testimony that in our haste to
end the war, we abandoned hundreds of our men to enemy hands.

Were it not for the thousands of still-classified reports, Buckley's family
might be able to assume Louis was killed that day. But as long as men are
alive, and one of them could be Louis Buckley, they cannot forget. Can we?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

01/2020

https://dpaa.secure.force.com/dpaaProfile?id=a0Jt0000000KYqKEAW

SFC LOUIS BUCKLEY JR.

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On May 21, 1966, Company C of the 1st Battalion, 12th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division conducted a sweep operation from Landing Zone Hereford in the vicinity of (GC) BR 664 628 in Binh Dinh Province, South Vietnam as Part of Operation Crazy Horse. The company's mortar platoon was deployed at the landing zone to provide fire support to the rest of the company during the operation. Shortly before 1400 and alone on the landing zone, the mortar platoon came under attack by enemy forces believed to be in company strength and suffered heavy casualties. The survivors of the mortar platoon withdrew to positions on the landing zone that provided better cover.

Sergeant Louis Buckley Jr., who entered the U.S. Army from Michigan, served with the Mortar Platoon, Company C, 1st Battalion (Airborne), 12th Cavalry Regiment. He became separated from his platoon members as they withdrew, and he was last seen moving in a southwesterly direction with blood on his shirt and arm, likely wounded. Shortly after the attack, friendly forces regained control of the landing zone and initiated a search for SGT Buckley, but did not locate him. He remains unaccounted-for. The Army posthumously promoted SGT Buckley to the rank of Sergeant First Class (SFC). Today, Sergeant First Class Buckley is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

Based on all information available, DPAA assessed the individual's case to be in the analytical category of Active Pursuit.

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