A 94-year-old Army colonel will receive the Medal of Honor, the nation’s highest award for valor in combat.
Ralph Puckett, who received two Distinguished Service Crosses, two Silver Stars for valor, five Purple Hearts for injuries suffered in combat, and two Bronze Star Medals during a 22-year military career, was informed of his latest award Friday.
ANALYSIS – FIVE REASONS BIDEN’S AFGHANISTAN WITHDRAWAL IS THE RIGHT MOVE
President Joe Biden called Puckett at his home in Columbus, Georgia, to inform him of his latest accolade, said John Lock, a retired Army officer who had been petitioning the Army for this award in 2003, according to the Washington Post.
Puckett, then a first lieutenant, was wounded multiple times during the battle fought at Hill 205 during the outset of the Battle of the Chongchon River, which occurred during the Korean War. He had told soldiers to leave him behind once he was incapacitated, but two privates first class, Billy Walls and David Pollock, got him to safety.
“I had been wounded three times by then, and I was lying there in my foxhole unable to do anything,” Puckett would later say for an oral history project. “I could see three Chinese about 15 yards away from me, and they were bayoneting or shooting some of my wounded Rangers who were in the foxholes.”
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Puckett also served during the Vietnam War.
“Then First Lieutenant Puckett’s actions on Hill 205 in 1950 exemplified personal bravery beyond the call of duty, risking his own life as he drew enemy fire so his men could locate, engage, and destroy an enemy machinegun nest and kill a sniper,” Votel wrote in a 2018 letter to Army officials.
Puckett had been a leader of sorts for the 75th Ranger Regiment, and he traveled overseas to meet with U.S. commanders in his 80s.
