Colonel (Ret.) Ralph Puckett Jr.
born
December 8, 1926
hometown
Tifton, Georgia
Commissioned
West Point, 1949
Military Occupation (MOS)
Infantryman (11A)
unit
8th Ranger Company, 8213th Army Unit, 8th U.S. Army
Deployments
Korea 1950, Vietnam 1967
Born in Tifton, Georgia, Ralph Puckett, Jr., graduated from West Point in 1949 and was commissioned Infantry. Assigned to occupation duty in Okinawa, he volunteered, instead, for the newly-conceived Eighth Army Ranger Company that was being formed shortly after the Korean Conflict began in 1950.
Selected as the Ranger Company’s commander, 1st Lt. Puckett had five and a half weeks to devise a training regimen and forge his non infantry Soldiers into disciplined Rangers before being committed to combat operations. While attached to Task Force Dolvin and leading the advance of the 25th Infantry Division on November 25, 1950, 1st Lt. Puckett and his Rangers attacked and secured Hill 205, near the Chongch’on River and only 60 miles from the border of China. Though outnumbered ten to one, the twice wounded 1st Lt. Puckett and his Rangers defeated five successive Chinese human wave counterattacks over four hours that night and into the early morning hours of November 26. Finally, on the sixth assault, with supporting artillery fires unavailable, the Ranger company was overrun in close-quarters, hand-to-hand combat. Having suffered additional debilitating wounds, 1st Lt. Puckett was left unable to move. Despite multiple orders to abandon him, fellow Rangers fought their way to his side and evacuated him to safety. For his actions during the Battle of Hill 205, 1st Lt. Puckett received the Distinguished Service Cross (DSC) which was later upgraded to the Medal of Honor and awarded in a White House ceremony more than 70 years later on May 21, 2021.
Though offered a medical discharge for his wounds, 1st Lt. Puckett refused and continued to serve on active duty as a combat arms officer at assignments that included the U.S. Army Ranger School and the United States Military Academy, West Point. As a Ranger Advisor to Columbia, Captain Puckett established the prestigious Escuela de Lanceros program. Later, after completing Special Forces training in 1960, Major Puckett commanded ‘B’ and ‘C’ teams in 10th Special Forces Group in Bad Tolz, Germany.
https://www.army.mil/medalofhonor/puckett/?from=features
