Private Buckalew was a Light Weapons Infantryman with Company F, 2nd Battalion, 35th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division. He was Killed in Action while fighting the enemy in North Korea on 28 November 1950. His remains were not recovered. His name is inscribed on the Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial.

Buckalew was awarded the Purple Heart, the Combat Infantryman's Badge, the Korean Service Medal, the United Nations Service Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Korean Presidential Unit Citation and the Republic of Korea War Service Medal.