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94-Year-old Gets Medal of Honor 70 Years After Heroism, Making Him One of the Most Decorated Soldiers in US History
Ralph Puckett was hosted at the White House where he received the Medal of Honor, 70 years after his selfless heroism in Korean War.
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Seventy years ago, on a frozen hilltop deep in what is now North Korea, a young First Lieutenant acted with bravery that earned him the Distinguished Service Cross, the military’s second-highest honor.
On Friday, Ralph Puckett, Jr. was hosted at the White House where he received the Medal of Honor, the U.S. government’s highest and most prestigious military decoration.
Ralph’s first response was to ask, “Why all the fuss? Can’t they just mail it to me?”
But, after his lifetime of service to the nation, President Joe Biden said at the medal ceremony, “Rather than mail it to you, I would’ve walked it to you.”
Ralph’s wife of 68 years, Jeannie Puckett, was in the audience, too, as Biden described how the couple met—while the brave Army Ranger was recovering from his wounds.
They were married two years to the day after the battle in November, 1950, for which he was honored this week with the following citation: “For acts of gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty while serving as the commander 8th U.S. Army Ranger Company…”