Many SME members will remember a portion of a column that appeared in the newsletter as a serial for the better part of  1997 which was titled “Who’s the SME Hero”, later changed to “Who’s the SME Vet”. 

In May of 1997, the column described a fella who was a Special Forces weapons specialist with MACV in Vietnam. This hero was, of course, John Rucks.  

SME Hero - Question of the Month

We all know this month’s hero. A Veteran of the Vietnam War, very seldom does he miss a meeting. He travels quite a distance to be with us, and usually brings quite an entourage with him. Who is he?

Hint - A very active modeler since the age of 7 and a member of SME for at least 10 years. His dad was a career Navy man. Originally from Virginia Beach, he enlisted in the US Army in 1961. An infantryman from the start, he specialized in light and heavy weapons training and hand to hand combat. He was in readiness positions for both the Berlin and Cuban Crisis’s.

By ‘64’, Special Forces was looking for a weapons specialist and our hero was their man. After being rushed through Jump School in a week at Ft. Bragg, he was assigned to MAC V’s 5th Special Forces.

Operating from Laos (say, we didn’t have ops in Laos did we?) he performed patrols and setup firebases to lure Charley. Twice his base was overrun and one of those times he had to call in Sandies to napalm his own base to quell an enemy overrun. This is a man who actually did hand to hand combat against Charley.

In addition to all of the above, he was in Cameron Bay stealing machine guns for his unit and galvanized sheet metal from the Marines for his own unit’s defense setups. In one crazy deed, he and others actually bulldozed an M-60 for the fun of it!

          By April of ’65’ he was back in the States training doctors and nurses the art of small arms. He now hails from the Quaker State and is prominently seen at each meeting.

Who is this month’s Hero?

(The column ends here) The answer is none other than the late John Rucks. Rest in peace John you are already sorely missed.