George "Pete" Buckley

Pete enlisted at age sixteen on December 10th 1941 the day after Pearl Harbor was bombed by the Japanese. He did not have his mother's permission and his telling her of his deed did not go well. He reported to Fort Devens on the 24th of December, and then was assigned to Keesler Field for basic training. He volunteered for the Glider Program the first week in June 1942.

Pete finished flight training at a civilian flight school in Stillwater, Minnesota. From there he was assigned to Fort Sumner, New Mexico, for basic glider training and finished as a rated glider pilot and promoted to Staff Sargent on December 1942. At Fort Sumner, a year later, he was promoted to Flight Officer on April 17, 1943 on his 18th birthday. Transferred to Bowman Field Kentucky he received Glider Pilot Combat Training. Then in February 1943 he took time out to get married to a WAACS who was stationed at Bowman and was then transferred to Laurinburg-Maxton, North Carolina for advanced glider training. His first assignment was at Laurinburg where he became a glider flight instructor.

his assignment last only until he was sent to Baer Field for preparation for overseas assignment. In March 1944 he was shipped out from Camp Kilmar, New Jersey on a British Ship, Mauritania Glider Pilots close call with the Navy. The ship docked in Liverpool and at Stoneham Pete was assigned to the 434th Group, 74th Squadron stationed at Aldermaston. Pete flew Normandy, Holland and Varsity surviving all three glider combat missions. It is believed that Pete was the youngest glider pilot in WWII. He left service in January 1945.