Ripley Buckingham was born on August 19, 191 in Vermont. He served in Y-Force Operations staff in China in World War 2 in the China-Burma-India Theater.
Y-FOS was established at Kunming, China, 29 April 1943 by verbal orders of the theater commander. The staff was to work in liaison with the staff of the Chinese Y-Force. (The Y-Force consisted of Chinese troops in Yunnan Province that were to make 30 divisions to be used for combat operations against the Japanese.) Y-FOS was charged with the mission of training, organizing, and supplying the Chinese Y-Force; established priorities for the air movement of supplies and equipment for the Chinese; supervising the Infantry Training Center and the Field Artillery Training Center at Kunming; and formulating plans for the operations and supply of the Chinese Y-Force.
He was killed in the Battle of Tengchong in China in 1944. He is remembered with a cenotaph in Tengchong, China.

From Find a Grave:
illed in the joint US-Chinese effort that included the USAAF 14th Air Force's operation over Tengchung made up of P-40s, P-51s, and P-38s on an armed reconnaissance mission. He was one of 19 USAAF personnel killed in this campaign.