First Lieutenant Buckner was a veteran of World War II. In Korea, he received a battlefield commission and was a member of Battery B, 555th Field Artillery Battalion, 5th Infantry Regimental Combat Team. He was seriously wounded while fighting the enemy near Kumji-ri, South Korea on 5 April 1951 and died of those wounds later that day.

Buckner was awarded the Purple Heart, the Korean Service Medal, the United Nations Service Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Korean Presidential Unit Citation, the Republic of Korea War Service Medal and the World War II Victory Medal.