Buckner left for Vietnam as a boy, returned as a man

Joe Buckner gave himself in service to his country for almost 50 years. He volunteered for the draft to go to Vietnam in December 1969 and retired from the Air Force Reserve as a senior master sergeant in 2012, the same year he retired from being the long-time construction technology teacher.

Buckner grew up on Tusquittee Street not too far from town. He was raised on a dairy farm with his sisters and brother by their mother, Julia. His father Joseph died when Buckner was only a year old so he was responsible for many chores around the farm. “I worked pretty much,” he said when asked what he enjoyed doing as a child.