Russell Joseph Buckingham Sr. was born March 18, 1914, in Yonkers, New York. He received a Bachelor of Arts from Fordham University before being drafted into US Army and serving with the 157th Infantry Regiment, 45th Infantry Division (the “Thunderbird” division). Buckingham survived a highly eventful military career. He participated in combat operations in Salerno and Anzio, Italy, before his unit advanced into France and later fought in the Battle of the Bulge and participated in the liberation of Dachau concentration camp.

As his regiment pushed into France, Buckingham was shot in the head. Though the bullet penetrated his helmet and cracked his skull, the wound was fixed with a metal plate. He was one of the few survivors from his unit that fought in the Battle of Reipertswiller in the Ardennes Forest during the Battle of the Bulge. He was shot in the ankle while crawling back to the US line beneath a tank that had come to support the unit after it was overrun. For his service he was awarded the Purple Heart.

Buckingham later served as a courier and driver for MFAA operations in Munich. He worked out of the Munich Central Collecting Point from Hitler’s former radio office, where paintings by Rembrandt and Hans Holbein lined the walls. He travelled a regular route between Munich, Salzburg, and Innsbruck, delivering correspondence between headquarters and other field offices. Buckingham also made stops at various art repositories.

He had a lifetime interest in the arts and was president of the NY Mineral Club.

In a tribute to his father, Russell Buckingham Jr. created an installation for the Freyberger Gallery at Penn State University entitled “Bloodlines” in November 2004. Included in the show were artifacts from the war, including letters between his parents, the bronze Nazi eagle that hung above Hitler’s radio room door, and countless photographs from his father’s life.

Russell Buckingham Sr. passed away Pennsylvania on October 22, 2003.