Richard Lee Shuck

Sergeant
D CO, 1ST BN, 35TH INF RGT, 4 INF DIV
Army of the United States
08 August 1947 - 24 February 1969
Seat Pleasant, Maryland
Panel 31W Line 040

4 INF DIV 35TH INF RGT
Combat Infantry

Bronze Star, Purple Heart, National Defense, Vietnam Service, Vietnam Campaign

The database page for Richard Lee Shuck

23 Dec 2001

"To live in the hearts we leave behind,
is never to have died."
(Thomas Campbell, circa 1888)

Rodger Leffler
Delta 1/35 Inf 1968
leffler.rodger.a@edumail.vic.gov.au

21 Mar 2007

Ricky attended Central Senior High School in Seat Pleasant, Maryland and was a real "Heart Throb" to many young girls. Each 10 years as we have a High School Reunion we remember the two guys, Eric Gold and Frank Metzker, who were in our class and never got to attend a reunion because they gave their lives for freedom. Ricky was a year before us, but is remembered in our moment of prayer and gratitude for all they gave. We also honor the ones who serve and are home with us today to enjoy the reunions. Our prayers to Ricky's family and friends. His is and will be remembered.

From a school friend,
Debbie (Burkhalter) Gibson
Waldorf, Maryland
dkg@comcast.net

From The Virtual Wall:
Sergeant Eric Gold served with Echo Company (LRRP), 20th Infantry; he died of wounds on 05 Jan 1969.
Private Frank Metzker, Kilo Company 3/27 Marines, was killed in action on 17 May 1968 during Operation Allen Brook.

A Note from The Virtual Wall

Sergeant Shuck completed Fort Benning's Harmony Church Infantry NCO Course in Class 17-68, graduating on 09 April 1968 and arriving in Vietnam on 08 Aug 1968. He is buried in Site 23120-F, Section 17, Arlington National Cemetery, near the back wall which joins Arlington with Fort Myers.

Sergeant Richard Shuck is remembered by his fellow soldiers of the

35TH INF RGT
35th Infantry - the Cacti Regiment

The photo is courtesy of the 35th Infantry Association, as is the following remembrance by his niece:

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.





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With all respect
Jim Schueckler, former CW2, US Army
Ken Davis, Commander, United States Navy (Ret)
Memorial first published on 23 Dec 2001
Last updated 08/10/2009