Wallace Buckert was born to Henry and Gertrude Buckert on November 18, 1920 and went to be with the Lord on September 20, 2018 at the age of 97. Wallace, married Dorothy (Dot) Buckert in Roswell, New Mexico and they were married for almost 70 years.
Wallace is survived by his son, David Buckert (Elaine McDaniel) of Victoria, daughter, Faline Rowland (Richard) of Shelby, Ohio; son, Mel Buckert (Judy) of Wichita, Kansas; eleven grandchildren and twenty-two great grandchildren.
Wallace was preceded in death by his wife, Dot and his parents, a sister, Joyce McCants and brother, H. Fred Buckert.
He was a great man, husband and father. Wallace served in the Army/Air Force from November 3, 1942 and was honorably discharged on February 9, 1946. Wallace seldom ever wanted any praise for his service, in fact, shied away from any fanfare. After boot camp, Wallace headed to Roswell, NM where he attended technical school. At the completion of technical school, he boarded a ship in Oregon headed to the Tinnean Islands. The trip took 30 days to get to the island where the Marines had already engaged the Japanese armies there. Wallace noted they fed the soldiers three sandwiches a day, every day for 30 days. Wallace spent four months on the Tinnean Islands. Wallace actually guarded the famous “Enola Gay” and the “Bocks Car”. These two iconic planes are the ones that dropped the bombs on Japan that ended the war. Wallace knew the pilot of the Enola Gay personally and noted he was a difficult pilot to work for. After the war ended, they loaded Wallace and about 2500 other troops on a different ship headed back to San Diego, CA. Again, three sandwiches a day for 28 days. As far as we know, Wallace was the last known soldier living that guarded these two planes. To his passing, Wallace was not fond of sandwiches.
Wallace returned from service to become a well-respected farmer and cattleman for the next fifty years. He loved his afternoons at the Victoria Farm and Ranch during and after his retirement. Wallace will be buried with full military honors.
Visitation will be held on Monday, October 1, 2018 from 5-7 pm at Rosewood Funeral Chapels. A graveside service with full military honors under the auspices of the Victoria Veterans Council will be at 10 am on Tuesday, October 2, 2018 at Memory Gardens Cemetery with Mr. Donald Angerstein officiating.
Words of comfort may be shared with the family at www.rosewoodfuneralchapel.com.
