If you knew or served with this Sailor and have additional information or photos to support this Page, please leave a message for the Page Administrator(s) HERE.
Contact Info
Home Town Brookville, IN
Last Address Annapolis, MD
Date of Passing Apr 03, 2001
Location of Interment Arlington National Cemetery (VLM) - Arlington, Virginia
Wall/Plot Coordinates 9 5847 EH
Official Badges
Unofficial Badges
Additional Information
Last Known Activity:
Charles Allen Buchanan, 96, a retired rear admiral who commanded a destroyer division and squadron during the Iwo Jima and Okinawa campaigns of World War II and retired in 1964 as commander of the naval district in Hawaii, died of respiratory failure April 3, 2001, at Ginger Cove Health Center in Annapolis, Maryland.
He was operations officer and assistant chief of staff for an amphibious task force that landed in Sicily and Salerno, Southern Italy, and in the Marshall Islands and Guam during WWII. After the war, he became an aide to James Forrestal, the Navy secretary who was the first secretary of defense.
Admiral Buchanan was an operations officer in the eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean, commanded the USS Worcester and was commandant at the U.S. Naval Academy in the early 1950s. He commanded a destroyer squadron in the Far East and was commander of the naval base at Newport, R.I. In Hawaii, he coordinated completion of the USS Arizona-Pearl Harbor Memorial.
Admiral Buchanan was a native of Brookville, Indiana, and a graduate of the Naval Academy.
His honors included the Navy Cross, two awards of the Legion of Merit, the Bronze Star with Gold Star and Combat "V" and the Silver Lifesaving Medal.
Other Comments:
Navy Cross
Awarded for actions during World War II The President of the United States of America takes pleasure in presenting the Navy Cross to Captain Charles Allen Buchanan, United States Navy, for extraordinary heroism as Officer in Tactical Command of a Radar Picket Station Unit during action against enemy Japanese forces at Okinawa in the Ryukyu Chain, on 12 April 1945. When an overwhelming force of Japanese aircraft flew in over his Task Force and launched a vicious suicide attack, Captain Buchanan fought his ships gallantly throughout the fierce engagement and, despite the tremendous odds, contributed to the success of his unit and cooperating combat air patrol squadron in accounting for more than thirty enemy aircraft shot down with minimum loss in personnel or damage to his own Task Force. An inspiring and forceful leader, highly skilled in the strategies of naval warfare, Captain Buchanan, by his superb direction of his ships' gunfire, his valiant conduct and courageous devotion to duty throughout this intensive action, contributed materially to the success of the bitterly fought Okinawa campaign and upheld the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service. Action Date: April 12, 1945 Service:Navy Rank: Captain Company: Officer in Tactical Command Division: Radar Picket Station Unit, Okinawa
Description Operation Avalanche was the codename for the Allied landings near the port of Salerno, executed on 9 September 1943, part of the Allied invasion of Italy. The Italians withdrew from the war the day before the invasion, but the Allies landed in an area defended by German troops. Planned under the name Top Hat, it was supported by the deception plan Operation Boardman.
The landings were carried out by the US Fifth Army, under American General Mark W. Clark. It comprised the U.S. VI Corps, the British X Corps and the US 82nd Airborne Division, a total of about nine divisions. Its primary objectives were to seize the port of Naples to ensure resupply, and to cut across to the east coast, trapping the Axis troops further south.
In order to draw troops away from the landing ground, Operation Baytown was mounted. This was a landing by the British Eighth Army in Calabria in the 'toe' of Italy, on 3 September. Simultaneous sea landings were made by the British 1st Airborne Division at the port of Taranto (Operation Slapstick). British General Bernard Montgomery had predicted Baytown would be a waste of effort because it assumed the Germans would give battle in Calabria; if they failed to do so, the diversion would not work. He was proved correct. After Baytown the Eighth Army marched 300 miles (480 km) north to the Salerno area against no opposition other than engineer obstacles.
The Salerno landings were carried out without previous naval or aerial bombardment in order to achieve surprise. Surprise was not achieved. As the first wave approached the shore at Paestum a loudspeaker from the landing area proclaimed in English, "Come on in and give up. We have you covered." The troops attacked nonetheless.
The Germans had established artillery and machine-gun posts and scattered tanks through the landing zones which made progress difficult, but the beach areas were captured. Around 07:00 a concerted counterattack was made by the 16th Panzer Division. It caused heavy casualties, but was beaten off. Both the British and the Americans made slow progress, and still had a 10 miles (16 km) gap between them at the end of day one. They linked up by the end of day two and occupied 35–45 miles (56–72 km) of coastline to a depth of 6–7 miles (9.7–11.3 km).
Over 12–14 September the Germans organized a concerted counterattack by six divisions of motorized troops, hoping to throw the Salerno beachhead into the sea before it could link with the British Eighth Army. Heavy casualties were inflicted, as the Allied troops were too thinly spread to be able to resist concentrated attacks. The outermost troops were therefore withdrawn in order to reduce the perimeter. The new perimeter was held with the assistance of naval and aerial support, although the German attacks reached almost to the beaches in places. Allied pilots slept under the wings of their fighters in order to beat a hasty retreat to Sicily in the event German forces broke the beachhead.
