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Contact Info
Home Town Providence, Rhode Island
Last Address Jersey City, New Jersey
MIA Date Aug 09, 1942
Cause KIA-Killed in Action
Reason Drowned, Suffocated
Location Solomon Islands
Location of Memorial Manila American Cemetery - Taguig City, Philippines
Birth and Early Life:
Henry Bucci was born on February 28, 1897; he was the oldest son of Ismaele and Anna Bucci of Providence, Rhode Island. He served as a soldier in the First World War, and upon returning to Providence became a police officer.
Enlistment and Boot Camp:
On August 17, 1920, Henry Bucci enlisted in the Marine Corps at Providence. Instead of being sent to boot camp, he traveled to California and immediately joined the Guard Company at Mare Island.
Service Prior to 1941:
By December 1920, Private Bucci was on the rifle range at the US Naval Station in Guam, where he qualified as a sharpshooter, and then jumped in rank to Corporal in April, 1921. He reached the second legendary overseas post of Cavite, Philippine Islands in 1922, and joined the 39th Company at the American Legation in Peiping, China. (One of his subordinates in 1922 was PFC Manny Berkman, later of the USS Astoria.) When his overseas hitch came to an end in April, 1923, Bucci sailed back to Mare Island, California, remaining there until his enlistment expired in November. He reenlisted, was awarded 60 days furlough, and reported back for duty at the Boston Navy Yard, closer to home than he'd been for the past several years. Duty in New England was a good deal for a young man from Providence; Bucci served at various posts in Massachusetts before allowing his enlistment to expire in September, 1926. To keep in trim, Bucci joined the Volunteer Marine Corps Reserve, but remained on inactive status while living in Providence. He relocated to Boston in April, 1928, and enlisted once again to serve as NCO in charge of the guards at the Boston Navy Yard drydock facility. In March of 1929, Bucci exchanged the job of watching ships to manning them. He joined the Sea School program at Norfolk Navy Yard in Virginia, and was soon aboard the USS Sacramento in the Canal Zone of Central America. He remained aboard her for nearly three years, attaining the rank of Sergeant in February, 1931. He reenlisted on land in 1932, but had a strong taste for sea duty, and joined the USS Fulton later that year, patrolling the seas off China. In March, 1934, a fire broke out aboard the Fulton. The ship was a total loss, although fortunately her crew was evacuated with only three minor injuries. Sergeant Bucci was put ashore at Hong Kong, but was soon snapped up by the USS Tulsa, becoming their detachment's Police & Property Sergeant. He sailed with the Asiatic Fleet until mid-1935, when he again returned to the East Coast. Bucci served as an instructor at his former Sea School and at the 1936 Texas Centennial Exposition before joining the USS Erieas acting first sergeant. Between the Erie and his final berth on the USS Vincennes, Bucci served on several warships, at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, and as a recruit instructor at Parris Island. He was promoted to Gunnery Sergeant at the end of 1940.
Wartime Service:
Gunny Bucci his last name earned him the nickname Bucky, joined the Vincennesin April, 1941 and was placed in charge of the ship's ordinance. The Vinnie Maru was off South Africa with her sister ship, USS Quincy, when the war broke out, and her officers and men wanted badly to join their fellows on sister ship USS Astoria at Pearl Harbor. They would get their wish after a quick refit in New York. Vincennes joined the Pacific Fleet and, after an abortive foray towards the Coral Sea, participated in the battle of Midway, where her antiaircraft gunners shot down at least one enemy bomber. Bucci was promoted to Master Gunnery Sergeant following the battle, and next saw action during the invasion of Guadalcanal in August, 1942.
Date Of Loss:
In the early morning hours of August 9, 1942, Vincennes was illuminated by searchlights from what they thought was a friendly source. An indignant message to shut the lights off was answered by a volley of shells a Japanese force had found and surprised the Americans, and within half an hour had scored two torpedo hits and dozens of large-caliber hits on the Vincennes. The ship was a blazing inferno, and swung out of line, beyond control. What happened to Gunny Bucci is unknown a family account relates that he saved another crewman by shielding his shipmate with his body but he went down with the Vincennes. His body was never recovered.
Next Of Kin:
Wife, Mrs Florence Bucci
Status Of Remains:
Lost at sea.
Memorial:
Manila American Cemetery and Memorial, Philippines.
Central Pacific Campaign (1941-43)/Battle of the Coral Sea
From Month/Year
May / 1942
To Month/Year
May / 1942
Description The Battle of the Coral Sea, fought during 4-8 May 1942, was a major naval battle in the Pacific Theater of World War II between the Imperial Japanese Navy and naval and air forces from the United States and Australia. The battle was the first action in which aircraft carriers engaged each other, as well as the first in which neither side's ships sighted or fired directly upon the other.
In an attempt to strengthen their defensive positioning for their empire in the South Pacific, Japanese forces decided to invade and occupy Port Moresby in New Guinea and Tulagi in the southeastern Solomon Islands. The plan to accomplish this, called Operation MO, involved several major units of Japan's Combined Fleet, including two fleet carriers and a light carrier to provide air cover for the invasion fleets, under the overall command of Japanese Admiral Shigeyoshi Inoue. The US learned of the Japanese plan through signals intelligence and sent two United States Navy carrier task forces and a joint Australian-American cruiser force, under the overall command of American Admiral Frank J. Fletcher, to oppose the Japanese offensive.
On 3–4 May, Japanese forces successfully invaded and occupied Tulagi, although several of their supporting warships were surprised and sunk or damaged by aircraft from the US fleet carrier Yorktown. Now aware of the presence of US carriers in the area, the Japanese fleet carriers entered the Coral Sea with the intention of finding and destroying the Allied naval forces.
Beginning on 7 May, the carrier forces from the two sides exchanged airstrikes over two consecutive days. The first day, the US sank the Japanese light carrier Sohu, while the Japanese sank a US destroyer and heavily damaged a fleet oiler (which was later scuttled). The next day, the Japanese fleet carrier Shukaku was heavily damaged, the US fleet carrier Lexington was critically damaged (and was scuttled as a result), and the Yorktown was damaged. With both sides having suffered heavy losses in aircraft and carriers damaged or sunk, the two fleets disengaged and retired from the battle area. Because of the loss of carrier air cover, Inoue recalled the Port Moresby invasion fleet, intending to try again later.
Although a tactical victory for the Japanese in terms of ships sunk, the battle would prove to be a strategic victory for the Allies for several reasons. The battle marked the first time since the start of the war that a major Japanese advance had been checked by the Allies. More importantly, the Japanese fleet carriers Shukaku and Zuikaku – one damaged and the other with a depleted aircraft complement – were unable to participate in the Battle of Midway, which took place the following month, ensuring a rough parity in aircraft between the two adversaries and contributing significantly to the US victory in that battle. The severe losses in carriers at Midway prevented the Japanese from reattempting to invade Port Moresby from the ocean. Two months later, the Allies took advantage of Japan's resulting strategic vulnerability in the South Pacific and launched the Guadalcanal Campaign that, along with the New Guinea Campaign, eventually broke Japanese defenses in the South Pacific and was a significant contributing factor to Japan's ultimate defeat in World War II.