Ralph Puckett Jr. (born 8 December 1926 in Tifton, Georgia) led the Eighth Army Ranger Company during the Korean War. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for his actions on November 25, 1950, when his company of 51 Rangers was attacked by several hundred Chinese forces at the battle for Hill 205. [1] [2] He retired from the United States Army in 1971 as a Colonel. After being appointed on 19 July 1996, he has served as the Honorary Colonel of the 75th Ranger Regiment[3] and is frequently in demand as a public speaker for military ceremonies.
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In 1949, Puckett graduated from the United States Military Academy, was commissioned as an infantry Second Lieutenant and immediately volunteered to be assigned with the Rangers. When he was informed that there were no more lieutenant positions in the 8th Army Ranger Company, he said that he would "take a squad leader's or rifleman's job"; positions several grades lower than a lieutenant's. Colonel McGee, who was in charge of forming the company, was so impressed by Puckett's attitude that he gave him the company commander's position; a position normally reserved for Captains.
On 11 October 1950, the Eighth Army Ranger Company entered the Korean War, conducting raids during both daylight and night time conditions.
On 25 November 1950, Puckett and his company became famous when they captured and held Hill 205, a strategic point overlooking the Chongchon River. Initially, they had to brace for attack from all sides, as the company of only 51 strong was over a mile from the nearest friendly unit and vulnerable to being completely surrounded. Fortunately for the Rangers, they had artillery support for parts of the night. Earlier in the evening Puckett had coordinated a series of increasingly more dangerous fire missions with the artillery, in order allow the Rangers artillery support to rapidly adjust to new attacks.
At 10pm, the Chinese began their attack by firing a mortar salvo against Puckett and his Rangers. Six waves of Chinese forces assaulted the hill for the next four and a half hours. Several times, Puckett was forced to call in artillery fire "danger close", placing the Rangers within the danger radius of the friendly artillery. During the course of the battle, he was wounded several times, once by grenade fragments and then twice more when a two mortars landed in his fox hole. After his wounds rendered him barely conscious, two of Puckett's Rangers, PFCs David L. Pollack and Billy G. Walls, dragged him down the hill, as they received some small arms fire. Ralph Puckett was medically evacuated from the hill and would be hospitalized for a year for his wounds suffered that night. He was awarded numerous medals for his service, including two Distinguished Service Crosses for the Korean and Vietnam Wars.
After the Korean War, Puckett took command of the Mountain Ranger Division of the Ranger Department.
Having completed 22 years of service, Puckett retired in 1971, as a full Colonel.
Puckett was inducted into the U.S. Army Ranger Hall of Fame in 1992. He was the Honorary Colonel of the 75th Ranger Regiment from January 1996 to January 2008. He is an Honorary Instructor at the U.S. Army Infantry School. He was inducted into the Order of St. Maurice in 1998 and was the 1998 Ranger of the Year for the Ranger Infantry Companies of the Korean War. He was inducted into the United States Air Force Gathering of Eagles in 1999. He was added to the Tifton, GA Wall of Fame in 2004. Other honors include appointment as an Ambassador of Goodwill by the Western Hemisphere Institute of Security Cooperation, selection as a Distinguished Graduate of the United States Military Academy in 2004, and selection as the Infantry's Doughboy Award recipient in 2007. He currently resides in Columbus, Georgia with his wife, Jean. They have three children (Thomas, Jean, and Martha) and six grandchildren (Lauren, Dixon, Martha, Jean, Sarah, and John).[4]
WD AGO FORM 639, dtd 11 Jan 1951