rcleary171
Member
- Location
- New Jersey
I enjoy browsing used bookstores and occasionally I will buy a book with an inscription. Most of the time the words are from a spouse or parent wishing the recipient a Merry Christmas or a Happy Birthday. I enjoy finding these personal touches but occasionally I inherit a mystery inscription.
In my younger days I read Seven Days in May, a book I enjoyed and found thought provoking. Recently I purchased a first edition with a respectable dust jacket and reread it. The story and plot did not age well (but that is my humble opinion and a discussion for a later date). It was also neatly inscribed (my initial assumption) by the children of a father serving in the military.
The formality of the inscription weakened my initial assumption, so I explored (courtesy of Google) for the records of any Colonel Buckley who may have served in the US Army. I got a hit.
William Francis Buckley appeared to be a good fit. Buckley had been a colonel in the US Army and was stationed in Vietnam from 1960 through 1962. He was also a commander so it would not be unreasonable that he had a staff who in turn would be inclined to give an inexpensive Christmas Gift like a book. I learned that Colonel Buckley was a bookish bachelor (he was a librarian at one time) and enjoyed reading political novels.
I soon realized that this was the same William Buckley who had been abducted in Beirut in 1984 and was subsequently killed by his captors (Hezbollah) in 1985. Mr. Buckley was buried with full honors in Arlington Cemetery and his star hangs on the CIA Memorial Wall in Langley, Virginia. 135 stars reside on that memorial wall – 42 that are nameless.
Of course, I will never have definitive proof that my copy of Seven Days in May belonged to William Buckley of the CIA. But I feel that there is a good probability based on my research. And I will always be honored to feel that I own a book that once belonged to a great American who gave his life for our country.
In my younger days I read Seven Days in May, a book I enjoyed and found thought provoking. Recently I purchased a first edition with a respectable dust jacket and reread it. The story and plot did not age well (but that is my humble opinion and a discussion for a later date). It was also neatly inscribed (my initial assumption) by the children of a father serving in the military.
The formality of the inscription weakened my initial assumption, so I explored (courtesy of Google) for the records of any Colonel Buckley who may have served in the US Army. I got a hit.
William Francis Buckley appeared to be a good fit. Buckley had been a colonel in the US Army and was stationed in Vietnam from 1960 through 1962. He was also a commander so it would not be unreasonable that he had a staff who in turn would be inclined to give an inexpensive Christmas Gift like a book. I learned that Colonel Buckley was a bookish bachelor (he was a librarian at one time) and enjoyed reading political novels.
I soon realized that this was the same William Buckley who had been abducted in Beirut in 1984 and was subsequently killed by his captors (Hezbollah) in 1985. Mr. Buckley was buried with full honors in Arlington Cemetery and his star hangs on the CIA Memorial Wall in Langley, Virginia. 135 stars reside on that memorial wall – 42 that are nameless.
Of course, I will never have definitive proof that my copy of Seven Days in May belonged to William Buckley of the CIA. But I feel that there is a good probability based on my research. And I will always be honored to feel that I own a book that once belonged to a great American who gave his life for our country.
