‘I remember his bravery’

Long before he was a Marine, Greg Buckley Jr. was a Sailor.

Buckley was a star on the basketball court his senior year at Oceanside High School. He played football as well, but it was when he was shooting three-pointers that he really shone.

“I’m sure there were a lot of opposing coaches who saw the way he played and how he carried himself as arrogance,” said Dan Keegan, the OHS basketball coach. “But knowing him, he had so much confidence, and that confidence combined with how much he loved being on the court, so he smiled a lot.”

Lance Cpl. Gregory T. Buckley Jr., 21, who felt so at home on the basketball court, was killed far away from his Oceanside home, in Helmand province, Afghanistan, on Aug. 10.

Buckley surprised some of his friends and family with his decision to join the Marines. “I didn’t know what to think. I never, in a million years, thought he would [join the Marines],” said his friend C.J. Palette. “His dad owns a million-dollar business. He could have taken it over, easily, and been set for life.”

Buckley’s father, Greg Buckley Sr., owns Buckley’s Installation and Service. But instead of taking a job with his father’s company, Buckley enlisted when he was 17.

“When he went to basic training, I told him I was so proud of him,” said Keegan. “And he shared, ‘I’m doing this for my brothers. I want to show them what a role model really is. And I want to serve my country.’”

Everyone knew that Buckley’s younger brothers, Shane and Justin, looked up to him. Greg was a sophomore when he made the varsity basketball team at OHS — one of only two that season. Justin could have followed in his footsteps. “He was the leading scorer on the junior varsity team as a freshman, and he probably could have started for us as a sophomore,” said Keegan. Instead, Justin has taken to football, where he excels on the gridiron as much as his older brother did on the court.

Buckley was making plans to come home just days before he was killed.

“I actually talked to him on Aug. 8,” said his friend Markiquse Chess. “He called me on the telephone on Tuesday, and then I spoke to him via Facebook on Wednesday.” Chess said that he, Buckley and all of their friends were making plans to go to Las Vegas.

“It’s like it was yesterday,” he added.

Buckley’s friends remember him as always having a smile on his face and doing his best to make sure that everyone else did, too. “He would go to the ends of the Earth to make sure that his brothers were happy, that his friends and family were happy,” said Sebastian Buttafuoco, who said that Buckley was like a brother to him. “He would do whatever it takes.”

Strangers may have mistaken his confidence for arrogance, but those who knew him knew that wasn’t the case.

“He was confident on the court and every day,” said Danny Frisch, Buckley’s friend and teammate. “I just didn’t think you could kill him.”

“I remember his bravery,” said Chess. “Whenever he put his mind to something, he did it. No matter how big the challenge. Whether it was trying to bench 135 pounds in the gym or whether it was trying to make it through boot camp.”

According to information released by the Marines, Buckley was a supply clerk with Headquarters Company, 3rd Marine Regiment, and was deployed as a logistics and facilities adviser as part of an Afghan National Civil Order Police Garrison Advisory Team attached to 3rd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team 6, 1st Marine Division (Fwd.), Marine Expeditionary Force (Fwd.).

His awards included the Afghanistan Campaign Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Navy Meritorious Unit Commendation, NATO International Security Assistance Force Afghanistan Medal and a Letter of Appreciation.

Flags on every Nassau County building will fly at half staff this week in Buckley’s honor.

Shocked friends and family gathered at the Buckleys’ home all weekend, laying flowers, pictures and candles on the lawn in memory of their fallen hometown hero. People cried and consoled one another, left mementos and shared stories about Buckley.

“I didn’t like the idea [of him joining the Marines],” Buttafuoco said. “No one liked the idea. But he had a reason for it, and it was to make his brothers proud of him. And they’re definitely proud of him. Everyone’s proud of him.”

The wake will be held at Vanella's Funeral Chapel, located at 2860 Long Beach Road in Oceanside, from 7 to 10 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 16 and from 2 to 5 p.m. and 7 to 10 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 17. Funeral services will be held on Saturday, Aug. 18 at 2 p.m. at St. Agnes Cathedral in Rockville Centre.