Integrity must be the core value in everything a Soldier does. Integri — Ralph Puckett

"My Rangers deserve this award. They did the training. They did the fighting. They did the dying. Two of them carried me off the battlefield. Those men are the ones who should get the credit. Theyre the ones who earned this Medal of Honor. RLTW. Rangers Lead the Way."

"Strive for excellence in every activity. "Good enough" is never good enough until it is the best you can do. Whenever you settle for anything less than your best, youre cheating yourself, your Soldiers, our Army, and this great country."

"Im awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for my actions in Korea. In 1967, Im awarded a second, along with two Silver Stars, as a battalion commander in the Vietnam Conflict. Those awards, in addition to five Purple Hearts, and two Bronze Stars- and my later inauguration into the Ranger Hall of Fame- all the credit goes to my sergeants and my men. I know it was tough for them, but I was right there with them, and I tried to praise each man every chance I got. Thats my leadership style. Just be there. No great plans of maneuver or anything like that. Ive never been anything much more than another rifleman."

"Ive conducted hundreds of interviews for our books but only one in person: Colonel Ralph Puckett, Jr., an icon in the Army and especially the Ranger world. As luck would have it, I was in Highlands, North Carolina, when he and his beloved wife, Jeannie, invited me to visit their lovely home in Columbus, Georgia. I couldnt say no. No Ranger would even dream of saying no. It was a cool October morning and I was nervous. I was actually going to sit in Colonel Ralph Pucketts living room and ask him questions about his brilliant career and, specifically, about the battle in Korea, for which he received the Medal of Honor. Back in the 1990s, when I first met the then-Honorary Colonel of the Ranger Regiment, it was a pretty big deal to listen to him speak- not in a lecture hall, but in the field, on the rifle range, in the middle of the night, after a parachute jump or a long road march. Colonel Puckett was right there, witnessing the training and giving guidance on what he saw. More importantly, he talked with less experienced soldiers. His words werent saccharine chatter spoken out of kindness. They were instructive and informative and made every one of us- the young Ranger privates and sergeants and lieutenants- feel like his peer. He took a personal interest in everyone- soldiers and Rangers- the warriors of America. Always."

"As Presidents Biden and Moon talk about the battle on Hill 205, my service in Vietnam and, after my retirement from active duty, serving as the Honorary Colonel of the 75th Ranger Regiment, menoring new generations of Rangers and soldiers, my mind keeps going back to those seventy-five Rangers I selected, trained, and served with in Korea. Im proud, very proud, of these Rangers. They were trained to be physically, mentally, and morally tough. They were highly skilled as a small combat unit and they made me believe that ours was the best company in the Army, a fact clearly demonstrated by them against overwhelming odds, under the most adverse conditions, deep within enemy territory that cold night on Hill 205."

"Be there. That has always been my personal standard. Be there for my soldiers, and if a soldier is undergoing adversity, be there by his side."