Over a year after his death, the Army has unveiled a life-size statue of revered Ranger retired Col. Ralph Puckett Jr. at Fort Benning, Georgia.

“We are lucky to have this statue to ensure that Rangers appreciate their benefactor,” Maj. Gen. Colin Tuley, commanding general of the Maneuver Center of Excellence at Fort Benning, said in an Army news release. “That they will know who he was, that they will know about the man whose legacy is equal to his legend.”

A native of Tifton, Georgia, Puckett is an inaugural member of the Ranger Hall of Fame and a Medal of Honor recipient for his actions leading the newly formed 8th Ranger Company to capture a frozen hilltop near the Chinese border during the Korean War.

During the November 1950 battle to capture Hill 205, a critical point overlooking the Chongchon River near Unsan, Puckett and his Rangers came under heavy mortar, machine-gun and small-arms fire. Puckett exposed himself to enemy forces to obtain supporting fire and ran across an open field three times to enable his Rangers to engage Chinese troops in hidden positions and secure the hill.

“Doing that one time makes you a hero,” Tuley said. “Doing it three times makes you a superhero.”

As the Rangers dug in on Hill 205, they came under attack again as the enemy launched six assaults on the outnumbered Rangers. Puckett repeatedly risked his life throughout the night to push back the enemy despite being wounded by shrapnel. He ran from foxhole to foxhole to distribute ammunition to his Rangers, draw out enemy gunners and observe enemy movements so he could call in artillery strikes, according to the Army.

During the final enemy assault, the Rangers were overrun. Badly wounded, Puckett ordered his Rangers to leave him behind, but they refused, carrying him down the hill to safety and allowing him to call in a final artillery strike, according to the Army.

Puckett received the Distinguished Service Cross for his actions during the battle, and the award was upgraded to the Medal of Honor in 2021, more than 70 years later.

The 7-foot-tall bronze statue of Puckett sits on Hurley Hill, overlooking Victory Pond, where Ranger School graduation takes place, and depicts Puckett rendering a salute. In addition to his Medal of Honor, Puckett is one of the most decorated soldiers in U.S. history, having received two Silver Stars, two Legions of Merit, two Bronze Stars with V device for valor and five Purple Hearts, among other awards.

Puckett, who retired from the Army in 1971, remained active in the Army community until he died in 2024. He was 97.

Even as a group of Rangers began fundraising for Puckett’s statue, he remained humble, said his wife, Jeannie Puckett. “When Ralph learned the Rangers had started this GoFundMe, he was really touched and said, ‘Why would they do that?’ I said, ‘Because, maybe they like you,’ ” she said during the dedication ceremony for the statue.

In the weeks before her husband died, Jeannie told him she worried that a statue overlooking Victory Pond would not be seen by as many people, as the pond is deep in a wooded area of Fort Benning. Puckett reassured her that Victory Pond was the best spot for his statue.

“He looked and me and said, ‘Jeannie, over the last 12 years I’ve been out there at 2 and 3 in the morning every six weeks at the beginning of the Ranger Course. I’ve been there with the gnats and mosquitoes when it was hot and humid,’ ” she said. “ ‘I’ve been there when it was raining, and I was soaking wet. I’ve been there when it was freezing cold and my hands were numb, but that’s where I want to be. I’m not worried because the Rangers have my back.’ ”