The 35th Infantry Regiment Association salutes our fallen brother, SGT Richard Lee Shuck, who died in the service of his country on February 24th, 1969 in Pleiku Province, Vietnam. The cause of death was listed as Small Arms/AW. At the time of his death Richard was 21 years of age. He was from Seat Pleasant, Maryland. Richard is honored on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial at Panel 31W, Line 40.
The decorations earned by SGT Richard Lee Shuck include: the Combat Infantryman Badge, the Bronze Star with V, the Purple Heart, the National Defense Service Medal, the Vietnam Service Medal, the Vietnam Campaign Medal and the Vietnam Cross of Gallantry with Palm Unit Citation.
RICHARD LEE SHUCK
Richard Lee Shuck was a Sergeant in the US Army, drafted to Vietnam at the age of twenty. The first child of Paul and Mary Dot Shuck, he was born and raised in Maryland, leaving his loving home in Seat Pleasant to serve his country in the far reaches of South Vietnam.
Ricky was above all else, a good man and a wonderful son. At twenty-one, he had barely embarked on life, but had already made an eternal impact on the people close to him. Known for his selfless, hardworking character and loving heart, he was treasured by his parents and younger siblings for all too brief a time. His giving nature was exemplified both in his life and death, as he gave his entire life for his country and the hope of saving many others.
A life that is characterized by love is the hardest to lose, and Richard Shuck remains defined by his life, not his death, in the hearts of all who knew him.
For our family, Ricky is icon of love and loss, for we feel eternally cheated to have lost him, but incredibly privileged to have ever had him at all.
And for the generation of family that follows, that of myself and my sister and my cousins, it's as if we were born with pain already in our hearts for a man who lived and died before our time. A legacy of love exists for our Uncle Ricky that is not contingent on our having ever met him. It will stay with us and continue to live on, traveling within the circle of love that is family, that cannot be severed, that does not end with death.
We all remain forever proud of the man whose name now lives on.
A silent expanse of jet black marble
with thousands of names
carved in gold.
A tombstone
for an army of children
who died
doing what they were told.
- Terri E Wilson, The Wall
Written by Jaime Windon, for the uncle she never knew, but already loved.
Buried in Arlington National Cemetery Section 17 Grave 23120-F. This is near the back wall that borders with Ft. Myer (about 3 rows in and about 4 graves from the easternmost sidewalk in that section that enters to Ft. Myers. (visited by Jim Hall in Jun 2003)
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(His BSV Citation)
Award Of The Bronze Star Medal For Heroism
For heroism in connection with military operations against an armed hostile force in the Republic of Vietnam. On 24 February 1969, Sergeant Shuck distinguished himself while serving as a squad leader with Company D, 1/35th Infantry. In the early afternoon, Company D was moving into a defensive perimeter when they came under heavy sniper fire by an undetermined-size force of NVA. Immediately Sergeant Shuck maneuvered his squad into a position where they could place the most effective suppressive fire on the sniper positions. Sergeant Shuck, with complete disregard for his own safety, constantly moved among his men directing their fire and pinpointing sniper positions for them. While courageously directing his squad's fire, Sergeant Shuck was mortally wounded. Sergeant Shuck's personal bravery, superb leadership, and exemplary devotion to duty are in keeping with the highest traditions of the military and reflect great credit upon himself, his unit, and the United States Army.
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