buckles was born in bethany, missouri. he enlisted in the u.s. army at the beginning of america's involvement in world war i in april 1917. only 16 years old at the time, buckles was asked by his recruiter to show a birth certificate. later buckles said of that event, "“i was just 16 and didn’t look a day older. i confess to you that i lied to more than one recruiter. i gave them my solemn word that i was 18, but i’d left my birth certificate back home in the family bible. they’d take one look at me and laugh and tell me to go home before my mother noticed i was gone. somehow i got the idea that telling an even bigger whopper was the way to go. so i told the next recruiter that i was 21 and darned if he didn’t sign me up on the spot! i enlisted in the army on the 14th of august 1917.""