Service News
The second oak leaf cluster to the Air Medal has been presented First Lt. James E. Bucker, Waterloo, a P-47 Thunderbolt pilot at a Ninth force air station in Belgium, according to a release received here Wednesday.
Lieutenant Buker’s wife, Betty, resides at 626 ½ West Park avenue.
Source: Waterloo Daily Courier, Waterloo, Iowa, Thursday, February 01, 1945, Page 19
Three From Waterloo Die in Action
Three Waterloo men Thursday were listed as killed in action, two in Europe and one in the Pacific. They were:
Marine Pfc. Jack L. Padget, 18, Iwo Jima.
Pfc Robert B. White, 19, France.
First Lt. James Edward Elmo Buker, 22, Belgium.
[Page 2] Lieutenant Buker, son of Mr. and Mrs. Edward L. Buker, 1115 Commercial street, was killed in action in Belgium, Feb. 22, according to word received by his wife, the former Betty Lou Barron.
Pilot of a P-47 Thunderbolt fighter plane, Lieutenant Buker had been overseas since July, 1944. He entered service Jan. 31, 1943, prior to which he had been employed at Iowa Transmission Co. He received training at Moore Field, Mission, Tex.
Born in Hurley, S. D., Oct. 28, 1922, son of Edward and Emelene M. Buker, he moved to Waterloo with his family in 1928. On Feb. 8, 1942, he married Betty Lou Barron, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Barron, 1500 Baltimore street, in Waterloo.
Outstanding Athlete.
Lieutenant Buker was a graduate of West Waterloo high school, where he was outstanding in football, basketball and track activities.
Surviving are his wife, his parents, two brothers, Frank, Portland, Ore. and William, 16, in the merchant marines; three sisters, Arlene, Salt Lake City, U.; Mrs. Caroline Patmount, Berkley, Cal.; and Ramona, at home.
The late pilot’s father has enlisted in the merchant marines and will report to duty next week in San Francisco, Cal.
Source: Waterloo Daily Courier, Waterloo, Iowa, Thursday, March 08, 1945, Pages 1 & 2
E. Buker Memorial Services on Sunday
A memorial service for First Lt. James Elmo Buker, who was killed in action Feb. 22, in Belgium, will be held at the Memorial Sunday services at 10:45 a. m. in First Baptist church, with Rev. Albert L. Drake, pastor, officiating.
The choir will sing the anthem, “Seek Ye the Lord” by Roberts and Miss Kathleen Norris will sing “When Children Pray” by Fenner.
Topic of the sermon will be “To Him Who Hath Shall Be Given.”
Lieutenant Buker was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Edward L. Buker, 1115 Commercial street.
Source: Waterloo Daily Courier, Waterloo, Iowa, Friday, May 25, 1945, Page 7
Posthumous DFC Awarded to Buker
First Lt. J. Elmo Buker, who was killed Feb. 22, 1945, in Belgium, has been posthumously awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, Air Medal with one silver and three bronze oak-leaf clusters, a war department notice said Friday. Husband of the former Betty l. Barron, 1500 Baltimore avenue, who is a clerical worker in the offices of the American Red Cross, Honolulu, T. H. Buker had previously been awarded the Purple Heart and the Air medal.
Source: Waterloo Daily Courier, Waterloo, Iowa, Thursday, November 16, 1945, Page 16
Mrs. Betty Buker Arrives
in Tokyo With Red Cross
Mrs. Betty Buker has arrived in Tokyo, Japan, where she will be located with the Red Cross, according to a cablegram received by her mother, Mrs. R. A. Barron, 1500 Baltimore street.
Mrs. Buker, who will be engaged in clerical work, was previously with the American Red Cross in Honolulu, P. H., for seven months. She returned in February from Honolulu and has been at home since. She left the states July 5, from Seattle, Wash. [NOTE: At the time of her father’s death in January of 1947, Betty was serving with the Red Cross in Korea.]
Source: Waterloo Daily Courier, Waterloo, Iowa, Thursday, July 21, 1946, Page 19
1st Lt. Buker served in World War II with the U.S. Army Air Corps 411th Fighter Squadron, 373rd Fighter Group and was KIA in Belgium. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and Air Medal with 8 Oak Leaf Clusters.
He is buried in Ardennes American Cemetery, Neupre, Belgium.
Source: fieldsofhonor data base
