Rangers Korean And Viet Nam War Help, Please

+5 votes
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A hero Ranger from the Korean and VN wars will be lying in state.

Due to conflicting facts in news articles and reports over 60 years, I am in need experts that can read militaryeze about Rangers, the Korean and the Viet Nam wars.

Please.

I have placed the templates.

He recieved two Distinquished Service Medals and one was upgraded to a Medal of Honor. He had FIVE purple crosses.

He had a placeholder profile I filled out this morning.

I will gladly Zoom or talk on the phone to learn how it is done or how the Reg, etc work in those wars, and where his news articles are wrong.

Thank you in advance for educating me!
WikiTree profile: Ralph Puckett
in WikiTree Tech by DrO Olmstead G2G6 Mach 1 (12.2k points)

Not really an answer to your question, but there's some confusion in that profile that needs clearing up. There were no 21st U.S. Army Rangers in Korea; in fact, to my knowledge, there has never been a 21st Rangers, period (Google did, however, find one in the Arma 3 online gaming world wink ). A total of 15 Ranger companies were formed during the Korean War and some, like the 10th and 11th, were deactivated before ever going to Korea. The companies I know of that were active in the campaign were the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 8th. The 8th was the first Ranger company created after WWII.

These were companies, not divisions or regiments. The 8th Ranger Company--which I believe is the one associated with Col. Puckett--was part of the the 25th Infantry Division. There was a 21st Infantry Regiment in the Korean War, but it was part of the 24th Division and wasn't a Ranger designation.

The only 21st Infantry Division I'm aware of in the Korean War was actually part of the Korean Army's III Corps but it wasn't formed until 1953. The article at Military.com states, "Beginning on Nov. 25, 1950, Puckett, at the time a young lieutenant, led a company of 51 Army Rangers in an hours-long battle against Chinese forces..." but makes no mention of a 21st Infantry. Neither is there any mention of the 21st Infantry in Col. Puckett's Wikipedia page.

The other citation for the statement, "Company of 51 men of the 21st Infantry Division was led by Lt. Puckett on 25 Nov 1950 for days against the Chinese," was to the Wikipedia page about the 21st Infantry Regiment, and there is no mention in that article about any 25 November 1950 engagement or any text related to Hill 205, Unsan, North Korea.

There are some crossed wires on that profile that will need some research to straighten out. This article at army.mil may help: https://www.army.mil/medalofhonor/puckett/?from=features. About the 25 November 1950 engagement it says:

"Selected as the company’s commander, 1st Lt. Puckett had five-and-a-half weeks to train his Rangers before being committed to combat operations. While attached to Task Force Dolvin and leading the advance of the 25th Infantry Division on Nov. 25, 1950, Puckett and his Rangers attacked and secured Hill 205 in the vicinity of Unsan, Korea. Though outnumbered ten to one, Puckett and his Rangers defeated five successive Chinese counterattacks over four hours that night and into the early morning hours of Nov. 26. Finally, on the sixth assault, with supporting artillery fires unavailable, the Ranger company was overrun in hand-to-hand combat. Having suffered multiple serious wounds, Puckett was unable to move. Despite orders to abandon him, fellow Rangers fought their way to his side and evacuated him to safety. For his actions, Puckett was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross.​"

That's consistent with what I noted about the 8th Ranger Company and the 25th Infantry Division.

Yes, thank you. His engagement announcement stated he was in '26th Infantry Division' {{Newspapers.com|212827771}} which I looked up in military records and it sent me on a goose chase that sent me seeking groups serving in Korea on that day. I found his record for 1966 that stated 'Ran 21t Inf'. Thinking about it, maybe that demotion to 2nd LT not 21st? Inf? He was previously a Lt Col? No way. I did a lot of searches through different articles but couldn't determine his true group. https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/2345/images/40014_1821100517_0707-00470?pId=2532656

Any help would be appreciated. 

Each newspaper article gave me different groups. 

I had a few minutes to check Fold3, but it isn't as much help as I'd hoped. Can't locate any muster/roster type documents that specify his unit. The most useful item I found did at least confirm his service number: O-0059165, sometimes just abbreviated as O59165 or 059165 (as it is in that Ancestry.com register document). This is a record of the injury incurred in that engagement near Unsan, Korea, on 25 November 1950. Of note is that the 26 November date of injury aligns with the army.mil article I linked to earlier and indicates the fighting didn't go on for days, but a matter of probably 5 or 6 hours from late on the 25th through early morning hours on the 26th.

Below is a (very) lengthy citation if you choose part or all of it:

U.S. Korean War Casualties, 1950-1970; Fold3.com, database and images: accessed 18 April 2024. Records on U.S. Army officers and soldiers killed or wounded in the Korean War, for the period 13 February 1950 through 31 December 1953. Citing [https://www.fold3.com/record/527229828/ralph-jr-puckett-us-korean-war-casualties-1950-1970 injury incurred by Ralph Puckett, Jr, on 26 November 1950 in North Korea] (paywalled link at Fold3). Transcription of content:

Full Name: RALPH JR PUCKETT
State of Residence: Georgia
Race: White
Service Number: O-0059165
Grade: First Lieutenant
Army Branch: Infantry
Component: USA Ð RA
Place of Casualty: North Korea Sector
Date of Casualty: 26 November
Type of Casualty: (US) Returned to duty
Date of Disposition: 6 December
Disposition of Evacuation: Returned to duty
Conflict Period: Korean War
Branch: Army
Served For: United States of America

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