‘Above and beyond the call of duty.’ Columbus commemorates new Medal of Honor recipients
Medal of Honor recipients Sgt. 1st Class Alwyn Cashe and Col. Ralph Puckett Jr. were honored by the city of Columbus and Fort Benning in a ceremony Friday afternoon.
Cashe and Puckett were the latest in a group of seven Medal of Honor recipients with ties to the area to have plaques added to a monument in front of The Eternal Flame Memorial near 9th Street and the Government Center. Both men were awarded the country’s highest military prize in 2021 by President Joe Biden.
Puckett and his wife, Jean, sat in the front row. They sat not too far from Cashe’s widow, Tamara, and their daughter, Alexis. Columbus Mayor Skip Henderson, U.S. Rep. Sanford Bishop (D-Albany) and Fort Benning commander Maj. Gen. Pat Donahoe spoke at the ceremony. The three leaders spoke of the men’s “service and sacrifice” to their country.
“I’d like to draw attention to the phrase that is found in both of their citations — ‘for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of life above and beyond the call of duty,’” Bishop said. “This says everything you need to know about the love these service members demonstrated for their fellow soldiers. ...It says everything you need to know about their love for this country.”
Puckett was awarded the Medal of Honor in May 2021, more than seven decades after he was badly wounded during the Korean War.
Puckett, the company commander of the then newly-conceived Eighth U.S. Army Ranger Company, was wounded during a critical battle at Hill 205 on Nov. 25 and 26, 1950, where Chinese soldiers surrounded Puckett’s company. The Chinese launched human wave attacks at Puckett’s position for more than four hours.
As a result of the fighting, Puckett had wounds to both feet, left shoulder, left arm, thighs and buttocks. His right foot was so badly mangled he later had to persuade medical personnel not to amputate it.
Puckett told soldiers to leave him behind, but his men disobeyed the orders. They dragged him down the hill by his wrists to get Puckett needed medical attention, according to an account of the battle from the U.S. Army Special Operations Command’s History Office and interviews Puckett has given over the years.
Cashe was awarded the Medal of Honor in December, 16 years after his death. He is the first Black service member awarded the Medal of Honor for fighting in Afghanistan or Iraq.
On Oct. 17, 2005, a roadside bomb ruptured the fuel cell of the vehicle Cashe was riding in during a patrol near Samarra, Iraq.
The Bradley fighting vehicle stopped and erupted in flames. Cashe, the gunner, was slightly injured and drenched in fuel from the initial blast. He left the gunner’s hatch and began rescuing men.
He made multiple trips to the burning vehicle. He pulled six soldiers and an Iraqi interpreter from the wreckage. Cashe suffered second and third-degree burns over 72% of his body, and he refused evacuation until the other wounded soldiers were taken to safety, according to the citation for Cashe’s Silver Star Award.
He died weeks later from his injuries. He was 35-years-old.
At the end of the event, Donahoe, Henderson and Alexis, Cashe’s daughter, revealed the new plaques.
“This is a big day,” Jean Puckett told the Ledger-Enquirer. “We’re grateful, and we appreciate Columbus honoring him. As a whole family, we just feel very blessed.”
Ledger-Enquirer archives were used in this story.
This story was originally published March 26, 2022 at 10:00 AM.