The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
‘He leads from the front. He leads by example.’
7 stations provide gear for boaters who don’t have it.
and served with the 101st Airborne Division during the Vietnam War. He retired from the Army in 1971 and created a leadership and teamwork development program called Discovery Inc. He also served as the first Honorary Colonel of the 75th Ranger Regiment at Fort Moore.
Puckett also earned two Distinguished Service Crosses, two Silver Stars, two Bronze Star Medals with V device and five Purple Hearts.
“He leads from the front. He leads by example. He leads with his heart,” Biden said before draping the Medal of Honor around Puckett’s neck at a White House ceremony. “He is a Ranger.”
Moon Jae-in, South Korea’s president in 2021, attended the ceremony, calling Puckett a “true hero of the Korean War.”
“With extraordinary valor and leadership, he completed missions until the very end, defending Hill 205 and fighting many more battles,” Moon said. “Without the sacrifice of veterans, including Col. Puckett and the 8th Army Ranger Company, the freedom and democracy we enjoy today could not have blossomed in Korea.”
Born in Tifton, Puckett graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and was commissioned a second lieutenant in 1949. He was assigned to Japan when he volunteered for the 8th Army Ranger Company, a unit formed shortly after the Korean War began.
J.D. Lock was teaching at West Point and researching Ranger history when he learned of Puckett’s heroism during the Korean War. With the support of U.S. Sens. John McCain of Arizona and Zell Miller of Georgia, Lock advocated for Puckett to receive the Medal of Honor.
“Many will say that Col. Puckett ‘led by example,’” Lock said in Puckett’s obituary. “I would rather say that Col. Puckett ‘lived by example.’”
Lock recruited top U.S. military officials to the cause, including retired U.S. Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal, who led Joint Special Operations Command.
“If we measure Ralph Puckett’s accomplishments and we only include the Medal of Honor, we are almost missing the point,” McChrystal said in his obituary. “Ralph Puckett’s awards are thousands of young Rangers, many of whom were still fairly young, that he’s touched by his example and his actions. That’s the real monument to him.”
Puckett was preceded in death by his parents, Clara Steadman Puckett and Ralph Atticus Puckett; sister, Clara Puckett Winston; brother, Thomas Steadman Puckett; and daughter, Jean Puckett Raney. He is survived by his wife, Jeannie Martin Puckett; daughter, Martha Lane Puckett Wilcoxson; and son, Thomas Martin Puckett. He is also survived by six grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.
A public celebration of life ceremony for Puckett will be at the National Infantry Museum near Fort Moore on at 11 a.m. on April 20.
“Like thousands of other Rangers, we loved the best Ranger,” said retired Col. Rob Choppa, president of the National Infantry Association. “He was truly the best among us.”
As temperatures rise and people head out on boats to enjoy area lakes and rivers, several local groups are again partnering to keep those boaters safe.
Pam Fair, executive director of Safe Kids Columbus, said seven life jacket loaner stations opened on March 26 around the Chattahoochee Valley. People can borrow the life jackets at no cost, and return them at the end of the day.
“Our goal was to make sure that every boat ramp in our region has a loaner station available so that when people go to enjoy the water, they have their safety gear ready at hand if they need it,” Fair said at Lake Oliver Marina in Columbus.
Station locations:
■ Lake Oliver Marina — 5501 River Road, Columbus
■ Goat Rock Lake Marina — Peggy Lane Boat Ramp, Fortson
■ Po Boys Landing — County Road 334, Salem, Alabama
■ Long Bridge Boat Ramp — County Road 379, Salem, Alabama (near Backwaters Marina)
■ Valley Park Recreation Area/Boat Ramp —
Off County Road 369, Valley, Alabama
■ Idle Hour Boat Ramp — off Mountain Drive, Hamilton
■ Blanton Creek Campground — 6111 Lick Skillet Road, Hamilton
Fair said each station is stocked with sizes from infant (less than 30 pounds) to adult XL, with the goal being to have two life jackets in each size in this range. Fair said
she also has a few in 2X and 3X sizes. Signage at each station is in English and Spanish and accompanied with graphics to reach as many people as possible.
Community partners monitor the loaner stations, and donations from Academy Sports + Outdoors, the Sea Tow Foundation and community members help restock each station as needed.
“We have Kiwanis Club of Columbus here at Lake Oliver, and then 1827 Real Estate up in Harris County,” Fair said, “the Lake Harding Neighborhood Association helps us with the stations on the Alabama side. So it’s a great partnership.”
Game Warden First Class Ryan Buice, with the law enforcement division of the Georgia DNR, said Georgia
law requires each person aboard a vessel in Georgia waters to have a fitting life jacket or personal flotation device.
“These life jacket loaner stations are great,” Buice said. “Maybe they forgot their life jacket. They can fulfill that legal requirement and be safe on the water.”
Buice also encourages people to wear their life jackets when on the water.
“Those life jackets do a very good job of what they’re supposed to do. They save lives,” Buice said. “Not wearing one because you think you can put it on an emergency is not going to help you.”
Fair said these loaner life jackets are “use at your risk.” People using them are responsible to make sure the life jackets are in good working order and the proper size.
“The person who’s using it is responsible to do that,” she said, “but the fact that the resource is there, we think it’s definitely saving lives.”
A Henry County Jail inmate was found dead inside his cell Thursday, authorities said.
The 30-year-old detainee was discovered unresponsive with “a sheet around his neck and tied to his bed” during a cell check, the sheriff ’s office said in a statement. Aid was rendered to the inmate, identified as Sterling Jamal Williams, by jail staff and firefighters.
The coroner’s office later pronounced him dead.
Williams had been in the jail since April 5 on a charge of disorderly conduct, officials confirmed.
The man’s parents told Channel 2 Action News that they drove eight hours overnight from Illinois to Georgia after learning of his death. They told the news station that Williams suffered from schizophrenia.
“They won’t even let us see our son. They won’t let us see him, they won’t let us get his property, they won’t give us more information. And I don’t think that’s right when that’s our baby,” his father, Sterling Moore, told Channel 2.
An official cause of death has not been released. The incident remains under investigation by the Henry sheriff ’s office.
It’s at least the fourth death at the jail this year.
On March 11, an inmate was found unresponsive in his cell and later pronounced dead. The man was not publicly identified.
On Feb. 4, officials said Cameron Moore, 47, of Atlanta, died at the hospital after he was seen by jail staff experiencing a medical emergency. Moore had been in custody since Aug. 5 on a charge of aggravated stalking.
Donte Battle, 24, was found unresponsive inside his cell and later died Jan. 6, according to law enforcement. He had been in custody since Dec. 20 on charges of murder, armed robbery, aggravated assault and possession of a firearm/knife during the commission of or attempt to commit certain felonies.