Last Korean War MoH recipient dies

Colonel Ralph Puckett

We really don’t want this blog to be an obituary page, but we can’t let the passing of a legend like Colonel Puckett go unmentioned. You’ll recall that Puckett received the Medal of Honor in 2021 for actions during the Korean War. After the 2022 passing of Staff Sergeant Hiroshi Miyamura, Puckett was the last living Medal of Honor recipient from that conflict.

Army times has the story;

Ralph Puckett Jr., an Army veteran who was the last living Medal of Honor recipient from the Korean War, died on Monday at the age of 97.

Puckett was awarded the military’s highest honor by President Joe Biden in 2021, more than 70 years after his heroism overseas. In a statement, officials from the National Medal of Honor Museum Foundation hailed him and the 146 other Medal of Honor recipients from that war as models for heroism and service.

“Col. Ralph Puckett was the last of a generation of extraordinary heroes,” said Chris Cassidy, president and CEO of the foundation. “His actions [on the battlefield] reverberated far beyond the Korean peninsula as his courage, sacrifice, commitment and patriotism have inspired Americans for over 70 years.”

WRBL reported that Puckett died at his home in Columbus, Georgia, in his sleep early Monday morning.

There’s more on him at the source, or you can click the link at the top of the article for my Valor Friday write up on him.

Category: Army, Historical, Korea, Medal of Honor, Valor, We Remember