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 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.

Contact Us

© Copyright 1997-2019 www.VirtualWall.org, Ltd ®(TM)

Last update 08/15/2019.