Ralph Puckett 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 . 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 and is frequently in demand as a public speaker for military ceremonies . Military career . In 1949 , Puckett graduated from the United States Military Academy ( where he captained the Army Boxing Team ) , was commissioned as an Infantry Second Lieutenant , deployed to Japan , 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 . Hill 205 . 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 . After Korea . Following the Korean War , Puckett served over two years in the U . S . Army Infantry School Ranger Department as commander of the Mountain Ranger Division . As the first Ranger Advisor in the U . S . Army Mission to Colombia , he planned and established the Colombian Army Escuela de Lanceros ( Ranger School ) . Later , he commanded “ B ” and “ C ” teams in the 10th Special Forces Group in Germany . In 1967 , then - Lieutenant Colonel Puckett commanded the 2d Battalion , 502d Infantry ( Airborne ) of the 101st Airborne Division in Vietnam . He was awarded a second Distinguished Service Cross for heroic leadership in August 1967 . During a dire , night - long defense near Chu Lai , he inspired his Soldiers , who rallied to repel the attacking North Vietnamese . A rifle platoon leader preparing for a " last stand " recalled Colonel Puckett ' s effect on the nearly exhausted soldiers : " . . . word of Colonel Puckett ' s arrival spread like wildfire . We all stiffened up and felt that nothing bad could happen now because the Ranger was with us . " Retirement . Colonel Puckett retired in 1971 after 22 years of active duty to become the National Programs Coordinator of Outward Bound , Inc . He subsequently established Discovery , Inc . Later , he became the Executive Vice President of MicroBilt , Inc . , a soft - and hardware computer company . Civilian life . He has continued to be very active in military affairs . Puckett was an inaugural inductee into the U . S . Army Ranger Hall of Fame in 1992 . He served as the Honorary Colonel for the 75th Ranger Regiment from 1996 to 2006 for which he was awarded the Distinguished Civilian Service Award . He speaks often at graduations and other functions at Ft . Benning and is an Honorary Instructor at The 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 USAF Gathering of Eagles in 1999 . He was added to the Tifton , Georgia , Wall of Fame in 2004 . Other honors include appointment as an Ambassador of Goodwill by the Western Hemisphere Institute for 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 is the author of Words for Warriors : A Professional Soldier ' s Notebook and numerous media articles . He lives in Columbus , Georgia , with his wife , the former Jean Martin . They have two daughters & a son ( Thomas , Jean , and Martha ) and six grandchildren ( Lauren , Dixon , Martha Lane , Jean , Sarah , and John ) .