Reuben Henry Tucker III Major General Reuben Henry Tucker III ( b . Ansonia , Connecticut , on January 29 , 1911 - d . Charleston , South Carolina on 6 January 1970 ) was a U . S . Army officer who commanded the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment and was awarded two Distinguished Service Cross es . Early life . Tucker was active in sports and Boy Scouts in his youth , proving his bravery and resourcefulness at 13 , pulling his drowning younger brother and a friend from a freezing mill pond . For this , he received a local award for heroism from the Scouts . While the boys in his high school social fraternity would nickname him " Duke " for his good looks and fastidious dress , and his family would call him " Tommy " , he would be known by many as simply " Rube " . West Point . Not renowned in his career for diligence with paperwork , his path to West Point was not quite direct . The Tucker family had produced soldiers for all of America ' s wars since the Revolution , seemingly working in Ansonia ' s brass mill to pass the time between wars . Tucker himself spent a year in the mill before entering a West Point prep school , Millard ' s . Despite passing the entrance exam , he did not secure an appointment in 1929 and spent a year out in Wyoming before joining the Class of 1934 . Due to a failing grade in mathematics , he washed out of West Point . Fortunately , his determination to remain at West Point helped him in passing two days of exams for re - admission , which allowed him to be " turned back " and join the Class of 1935 . Tucker married on the day following graduation . He and his wife would raise five boys over the ensuing decades . World War II . Tucker volunteered for parachute training at Fort Benning , Georgia . Upon graduation Captain Tucker was assigned to the 504th Parachute Infantry Battalion . Following activation of the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment , on 1 May 1942 , Major Tucker was assigned as the Executive Officer . On 6 December 1942 , Major General Matthew B . Ridgway , Commanding General of the 82nd Airborne Division , selected Lieutenant Colonel Tucker to command the 504th . At 31 years of age , Tucker was one of the youngest regimental commanders during the war , despite his delay in entering and graduating from West Point . On 11 July 1943 , Colonel Tucker led his troops in the parachute invasion of Sicily . There the United States ground and sea forces , mistaking the 504 ' s aircraft for enemy planes , fired on the formations resulting in the catastrophic loss of 23 aircraft , numerous casualties , and the scattering of troops all over the island . Colonel Tucker was an outstanding combat leader during the war , and had a marked and lasting influence on many members of the regiment through his sterling traits of character , leadership ability , unfailing sense of humor , and understanding . He was affectionately referred to as " The Little Colonel " by the troops , and his presence among them often inspired their will to fight under adverse conditions . While fighting on the Anzio beachhead they became known as the " Devils in Baggy Pants " . The nickname remains with the regiment today . Lt Gen James M . Gavin , who originally commanded the 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment , and later the Commanding General of the 82nd Airborne Division , stated in his book , " On to Berlin " , " The 504th was commanded by a tough , superb combat leader , Colonel Reuben H . Tucker was probably the best regimental commander of the war . " Interestingly , Gavin would admit that Tucker was famous for screwing up everything that had to do with administration . One story going around was that when Tucker left Italy , he had an orange crate full of official charges against his soldiers and he just threw the whole crate into the ocean . Ridgway and I talked about it and we decided we just couldn ' t promote Tucker . ( from 9 / 28 / 82 interview of Gavin by Clay Blair ) Colonel Tucker was one of the most decorated officers in the United States Army . He was awarded two Distinguished Service Crosses , the United States ' second highest medal for bravery , one of which was personally awarded by President Franklin D . Roosevelt during a visit to Castelvetrano , Sicily , in December 1943 , for extraordinary heroism under hostile fire in Italy in September . Post - war assignments . Following the war , Colonel Tucker held many varied positions and assignments to include Commander , 1st Cadet Regiment , West Point ; Staff and Faculty , Air War College ; Student , Army War College ; Commandant of Cadets , the Citadel ; Assistant Division Commander , 101st Airborne Division and Chief Infantry Officers Branch , Department of the Army . Subsequent assignments were Commanding General of Fort Dix ; Chief Military Assistance Advisory Group in Laos , and Assistant Chief of Staff G - 3 , United States Army , Pacific . Retirement . Major General Tucker retired from the Army in 1963 , settling in Charleston , South Carolina , to assume a position he previously held on active duty , Commandant of Cadets at the Citadel where he remained until retiring a second time in February 1968 . On 6 January 1970 , Major General Tucker was found collapsed on the Citadel campus , the victim of an apparent heart attack . Funeral services were held in Beaufort , South Carolina , on 9 January 1970 . Major General Tucker ' s final resting place in Beaufort National Cemetery is located in close proximity to the graveside of his oldest son , who was killed in action in Vietnam .