President Joe Biden awarded his first Medal of Honor on Friday to a 94-year-old retired Army colonel for bravery under enemy fire more than a half-century ago in the Korean War.
It took a policy change for retired Col. Ralph Puckett Jr. to receive the military’s highest honor. The 2020 defense policy bill removed a requirement that such awards be given within five years of a valorous act.
“Today we are hosting a true American hero and awarding an honor that is long overdue more than 70 years overdue,” Biden said during the East Room ceremony. “Though I understand that your first response to us hosting this event was to ask why all the fuss.”
President Joe Biden is awarding his first Medal of Honor to a 94-year-old retired Army colonel for bravery more than a half-century ago in the Korean War.
President Joe Biden presents the Medal of Honor to retired U.S. Army Col. Ralph Puckett, in the East Room of the White House, Friday, May 21, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
A change in policy was needed for retired Col. Ralph Puckett Jr. to receive the military’s highest honor.
The 2020 defense policy bill removed a requirement that such awards be given within five years of a valorous act.
Over two days in November 1950, Puckett as first lieutenant helped the 8th U.S. Army Ranger Company to secure a strategically important hill. Puckett was awarded the medal in East Room ceremony on Friday.
While the highlight of President Joe Biden's week may have been driving an electric Ford F-150 on the track in Michigan, he also had to contend with continued strife in Israel and Gaza, helping to negotiate a precarious ceasefire. Elsewhere, in the United Kingdom, the Royal Family dealt with the fallout from a damning report about the BBC's conduct regarding a 1995 interview with Princess Diana. Prince Harry meanwhile, launched his docuseries,.
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