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Shelby O Buck of Cochran County, KIA during WW2

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Shelby O Buck of Cochran County, KIA during WW2

tgthorne  (View posts) Posted: 16 Aug 2007 6:21PM GMT
Classification: Query
Surnames: Buck
Hello all, i am trying to trace any relatives, or information on this airman that was killed serving with the USAAF during WW2. He was killed on the 30th May 1943 flying from the US training base at Atcham in England.

The only information i have is that he was a Flight Officer Shelby O Buck (T190615) and that he was from Cochran County, Texas. I would be really grateful for any information on this man if it is possible? Where was he from in Cochran County? Are there any family members still living there?

Thanks very much, Tom

Re: Shelby O Buck of Cochran County, KIA during WW2

joebucktexas  (View posts) Posted: 4 Nov 2008 7:54PM GMT
Classification: Query
Surnames: hope for future gen
Don't know, maybe not related, but,

Shelby Othello Buck, died before WWII started as a Canadian RAF pilot from West Texas. As a student at the University of Texas, prior to his departure for WWII service in the RAF, Shelby Othello Buck had been nominated for a Rhodes scholarship while enrolled as a student in the University of Texas in Austin, TX.

Prior to World War II, Shelby Othello Buck was a prospective all America football player for the University of Texas Longhorns. Shelby Othello Buck and his brother, John Quinn Buck, each boxed and defeated Max Baer during training bouts while US war efforts were delayed by political constraint. Buck was born in Crosby County, Crosbyton, TX.
See this reference for more info on Shelby Othello Buck of Crosbyton, Texas, from a history of the Texas Aggies:
http://books.google.com/books?id=Kav6qLQNhUkC&pg=PA222&a...

Shelby Othello Buck, from Crosbyton, Texas, played football on the University of Texas 'Longhorn' team, as a star-player, training, playing, and with the war in England, flying; -- he enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force. Shelby died in the European WWII Theater as a navigator on a B-17 bomber, prior to Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor. He is buried in Cambridge England. The early separation of the US from England's war didn’t allow US citizen combatants any direct ties to US support for individual efforts to stop German aggressions.

With the earliest signs of Germany’s European aggression, Shelby Othello Buck convinced one of his UT football coaches and 5 other Longhorn football players from UT to join him to enlist in the Royal Canadian Air Force prior to Pearl Harbor. During their flight training in Canada they played Canadian football in Ottawa, Canada -- the Roughriders! For more than 20 years, Shelby’s and his teammates have been enshrined with honors within the University of Texas athletic department.

Shelby Othello Buck's family came to Texas from the Jackson, Mississippi area to the South Plains of Texas (Buddy Holly's birthplace of rock and roll). Shelby had 6 brothers (four sisters). The boys were known as the 'Battling Bucks' from Crosbyton and Morton, Texas; see Lubbock Texas Avalanche Journal microfilm for source details. (www.lubbockonline.com) More background information is available thru searches for Monroe D. Anderson Foundation Houston, Anderson and Clayton Houston, Fulbright Jaworski Law firm Houston, Salk Institute and John Buck Company Foundation, Chicago.

Shelby's short life is historically notable for his heroic effort to stop German Nazi aggression. Several medical and educational foundations now exist from his single sacrifice ... Shelby's family continues to fight poverty, teach children and provide health care for the common man.

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