George T. Buchan

Second Lieutenant George Thomas Buchan was killed in action on February 17, 1944 at Anzio, Italy in World War II.  He was 34 years old.

George Thomas Buchan was born on November 13, 1909 in Panama, the son of George Thomas Buchan Sr.  and Mary Whitfield Buchan.  He graduated from Henderson High School in the Class of 1927.

Buchan was employed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Washington D.C. where he lived for ten years. His interest in sailing won him many trophies in the Potomac River Sailing Association including First Prize in the 1940 Gunston Cove Regatta.

Buchan enlisted in the Army immediately after Pearl Harbor and was commissioned as a paratroop officer in the 509th Parachute Infantry Brigade.

The 509th made combat jumps in the campaigns in North Africa (1942), Tunisia (1942) and at Salerno (1943) in southwestern Italy.  On 22 January 1944, the 509th Parachute Infantry Regiment took part in the seaborne landings at Anzio, just south of Rome.  Though initially caught off-guard, the Germans reacted to the Allied landings with brutal counterattacks. At Carano, the outnumbered and overwhelmed paratroopers staved off a German advance with continuous fire and, eventually, hand-to-hand combat. Despite being overrun and incurring heavy casualties, the 509th helped to prevent the enemy from overwhelming the Allied beachhead. For its actions at Carano, the 509th earned a Presidential Unit Citation, the first awarded to an airborne unit. 2Lt Buchan was killed in action at Anzio on February 17, 1944.

Second Lieutenant Buchan is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.

Last edited: 28 April 2026