Paul Bucha, Medal of Honor Winner With a Political Voice, Dies at 80

Paul Bucha, a Medal of Honor recipient who saved fellow American soldiers from slaughter during the Vietnam War and who in later years became both a public endorser and a critic of presidential candidates, died on July 31 in West Haven, Conn. He was 80. The death, at a veterans’ hospital, was caused by complications
Paul Bucha, Medal of Honor Winner With a Political Voice, Dies at 80

Paul Bucha, a Medal of Honor recipient who saved fellow American soldiers from slaughter during the Vietnam War and who in later years became both a public endorser and a critic of presidential candidates, died on July 31 in West Haven, Conn. He was 80.

The death, at a veterans’ hospital, was caused by complications of Alzheimer’s disease, his daughter Heather Whaley said.

In 1965, Mr. Bucha (pronounced BYU-kah) graduated from West Point in the top 5 percent of his class and as an All-American swimmer. Two years later he was sent to Vietnam as an Army captain.

,

He was soon appointed commander of the last rifle company to be formed during an Army expansion — one that left him with a collection of the least coveted recruits: men who had flunked basic infantry tasks, former prisoners and “guys with master’s degrees in Elizabethan literature,” Mr. Bucha later recalled to the National Purple Heart Honor Mission, a veterans group.

,

The bloody Tet offensive of 1968 began soon afterward, and his unit was charged with helping to repel the attack by North Vietnamese and Viet Cong forces. By March, the group was down from 164 men to 89.

Total
0
Shares
Leave a Reply
Related Posts
Alternative Chinese healer convicted of manslaughter of diabetic grandmother, 71, is already serving time for killing six-year-old Australian boy after parents stopped his insulin
Read More

Alternative Chinese healer convicted of manslaughter of diabetic grandmother, 71, is already serving time for killing six-year-old Australian boy after parents stopped his insulin

An alternative Chinese healer convicted of the manslaughter of a diabetic grandmother is already serving time for killing a six-year-old boy in Australia, it can now be reported.  Today, Hongchi Xiao, 61, of Cloudbreak in California, was found guilty of killing Danielle Carr-Gomm at a slapping therapy workshop in Wiltshire in 2016. Xiao congratulated Ms
Schoolboy, eight, dies after being pulled out of a house fire in Birkenhead as three people who leapt from the top floor to escape the blaze remain in hospital
Read More

Schoolboy, eight, dies after being pulled out of a house fire in Birkenhead as three people who leapt from the top floor to escape the blaze remain in hospital

A schoolboy has died after being pulled out of a house fire in Birkenhead, while three others who jumped from the top floor remain in hospital.  Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service (MFRS) was called to Keele Close on the Beechwood Estate in the early hours of yesterday morning.  When emergency crews arrived at the two-storey, semi-detached
What to watch at the gymnastics in Paris
Read More

What to watch at the gymnastics in Paris

Paris CNN  —  As competition gets well and truly underway in Paris, all eyes will turn shortly to one of the Olympic Games’ signature sports: Gymnastics. The sport has created some of the most iconic moments in Olympic history and made household names of its stars. Among the top highlights of the first week, expect