The doctors doubted he would make it. In 1978, at the urging of state Democrats, he decided to challenge Paul Trible, the freshman representative from Tidewater. That's the question all baby boomers asked of the generation that had born them. "The New Zealand Open is for all New Zealanders, and they should not be priced out of going to it," Campbell said. Finally his watch was confiscated so he wouldn't know when it was time for a new dose. From left to right, rear to front; left row (rear) Sides (FFG-14), (front) Mahlon S. Risdale (FFG-27), middle row (rear) Duncan (FFG-10) (center) Copeland (FFG-25) (lead ship) Lewis B. Puller(FFG-23), right row (rear) George Philip (FFG-12) and (front) Wadsworth (FFG-9), 23 January 1994. He merely wore the hat for its look and for brand loyalty.. FAIRFAX, Va. (AP) _ Former U.S. Marine Lewis B. Puller Jr., whose autobiography recounting his experiences as a disabled Vietnam veteran won him a Pulitzer Prize, committed suicide Wednesday. Why Jason Gore Ruled, Part Deux: On the 16th tee, en route to an 84, and with the other man in his group en route to an 81, Gore turned to Goosen and said: "Why don't we play the last three holes for five bucks, just to make it interesting?". [2] After his graduation from Officer Candidate School, he received orders to South Vietnam in July 1968, where he served as an Infantry Platoon Leader for three months. 'I'm still trying to come to grips with my Vietnam experience,' he added. But when the world doesn't change, alcohol lubricates the painful friction, the constant grinding, as powerful as that of the earth's tectonic plates, between what was and what is, what might have been and what really wasn't. For a while he existed only on lime Life Savers and Pall Mall cigarettes. New York: Grove Weidenfeld. He was admitted to the Virginia Bar in 1974 and began working as a lawyer for the Veteran's Administration and on President Gerald Ford's clemency board. She spent 14 years as a Washington Post foreign correspondent based in Tokyo, Mexico City and London. It was incredible.. Corrections? She hosted the 100th Anniversary of Lt. Gen. Lewis B. "I'm telling you, I saw the blood oozing out of him. Remaining in the Hawaiian area until late June, the crew readied for Rimpac 92. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). A family friend who spoke on condition of anonymity said Puller shot himself. He saw combat on the Matanikau River and at. The devil's own game. He got pneumonia and hepatitis. It was very thoughtful. May 12, 1994 Lewis B. Puller Jr., who transformed his years of struggle with the physical and emotional ravages of the Vietnam War into a Pulitzer Prize-winning autobiography, shot and killed. He was ordered to stop drinking. After five years of writing, scribbling his memories one page at a time with what is left of his right hand, his autobiography, "Fortunate Son," has become one of the hottest new books in the country. She also participated in torpedo exercises on the Nanoose Torpedo Range (1316 August), before returning to Long Beach on the 21st. Like other Southern boys, Lewis was introduced to both guns and drink at an early age. Discuss. He was 48. [1] The title of this autobiography was borrowed from the song "Fortunate Son" by Creedence Clearwater Revival, to which he gives credit in the opening pages. [2], The shell riddled his body with shrapnel, and he lingered near death for days with his weight dropping to 55 pounds, but he survived. At his elbow is his wife, Virginia. Me? "When you see what he's done," says Ellis, "you got to believe that no matter what happens to you, you can't feel sorry for yourself. At first we touched each other tentatively, but when she sensed that I was not as fragile as I seemed and I realized that I could still perform, we forsook caution and made love with the eagerness of young lovers who had been apart for half a year. "Otherwise you become engulfed in bitterness.". Chesty Puller's early life and entry into the US Marine Corps. Lewis Burwell Puller Jr. was the son of Lt. General Lewis "Chesty" Puller, the most decorated Marine in the history of the U.S. Marine Corps. On a scale of 1 to 10, can I get at least a 6 for that? In other words, let's hold off on the Tiger As Greatest Player Ever argument for a little while. Across three wars and two counterinsurgency campaigns, Puller won five Navy Crosses and earned an unrivaled place in the hearts of Marines as the quintessential Leatherneckhard as the frontal armor of a tank, tenacious as a bulldog, courageous to a fault, and scornful of anyone or anything that did not wear the eagle, globe, and anchor insignia.. He may not live," the Marine Corps officer said. [1] Life and career [ edit] "We looked for the rest of {Puller} and his rifle but found nothing," Ellis wrote. Toddy kept busy with the PTA, the Girl Scouts, volunteer work. The guided missile frigate Lewis B. Puller was laid down on 23 May 1979, at San Pedro, Calif., by the Todd Pacific Shipyard Corp.; launched on 15 March 1980 and sponsored by Mrs. Virginia M. Puller, wife of Lt. Gen. Puller; and commissioned on 17 April 1982, Cmdr. What I do know is this: The Haka dance, performed by Maori tribes and by the New Zealand All Blacks rugby team, is one of the coolest things in sports. The first major Allied offensive of the Pacific War began on August 7, 1942, with an amphibious landing on Guadalcanal in the southern Solomon Islands. That's the number of top-5 finishes in majors posted by Jack Nicklaus in his career. Maybe the stories of Civil War gallantry and World War II righteousness weren't false exactly, but our own lives, our time on this earth, turned them into lies. Making way from Long Beach in company with Duncan (FFG-10) on 17 April, the two vessels conducted a missile test at the Pacific Missile Test Center Range with Lewis B. Puller acting as tracker and backup missile shooter for Duncan. Smith knew Chestys limitations and usually kept control of the divisions reserve unit, knowing that Puller had a penchant for getting his entire outfit into the fight early in a battle. The photograph of Puller at his home is part of an eight-box collection of Puller documents that contains about 100 photos of the legendary Marine general, Whitley said. Two weeks later, she participated in Surface Warfare Training Week Long Beach (59 April). He got through law school in 1974 and landed a job at the Veterans Administration and then a position on President Ford's Clemency Board. He entered a 28-day detox program in 1981 and has not taken another drink since. Puller later recalled the first time his father saw him in the hospital. In part, Puller says, he wanted to return to school to "recapture some of the carefree youth that I lost. Their home of 16 years is being renovated. Seizing the contraband and five crewmembers, Lewis B. Puller arrived at NS Guantnamo Bay, Cuba, to transfer the prisoners and contraband to the United States Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA). The guided missile frigate Lewis B. Puller was laid down on 23 May 1979, at San Pedro, Calif., by the Todd Pacific Shipyard Corp.; launched on 15 March 1980 and sponsored by Mrs. Virginia M.. Or purchase a subscription for unlimited access to real news you can count on. [9], In a statement, Puller's wife, Toddy said, "Our family has been moved and humbled by the outpouring of affection for Lewis. Im not proud of any of this, and I readily acknowledge that most of my problems, most of my misfortunes, were of my own making.. Henty. He was being particularly obnoxious that time. In 2000, Campbell had ascended on the international stage, reaching as high as 14th in the World Golf Rankings. Omissions? Gerald A. I dig a little deeper and see a juicy backstory of sniping, venom and distaste. "What did I miss?" "But I couldn't do it," he says. Third-Most Mind-Blowing Number of the Championship: 81. Perhaps the most poignant moment was Stevie Wonder singing the Bob Dylan classic 'Blowin' in the Wind.'. National Archives Identifier: 6491772. "I remember her saying, 'Thank God his mind is okay,' " says Barnett. I would look at her for signs of rejection.". "I had a wife and two children. He was not sponsored by PBR. He won the 1992 Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography for his autobiography Fortunate Son. The explosion also burst Puller's eardrum, dislocated his shoulder, split his scrotum and riddled the rest of his body with shrapnel. Tiger is 29.). Like most Virginia boys, Lewis Puller learned early and by heart Jackson's last, deathbed words after the Battle of Chancellorsville. Facebook gives people the. It was a very precise note regarding students grading, said Boileau, chairman of the communications department. At the World Match Play event that year, Campbell was slated to face Tiger, and it was an anticipated match in golf circles. In August, Lewis B. Puller charted a course for Hawaii, making a port visit at Pearl Harbor (1014 August), before participating in Hollywood Ops (1619 August), with submarines New York City (SSN-695), Portsmouth (SSN-707), and Duncan, Copeland (FFG-25), and John A. Moore (FFG-19). After participating in the annual Seattle Seafair activities in Seattle, Wash., (29 July1 August), Lewis B. Puller returned to Long Beach (11 August). Tiger, with his second-place mark, now has 15. 1 was felt in ticket prices, and organizers announced the price of a weekly ticket was bumped up, just a shade from $20 to a cool $190. The younger Puller would go on to write a Pulitzer Prize-winning autobiography, Fortunate Son (1991), as a tribute to his father, and die by his own hand in 1994. No one ever died in vain. For eight months he could not find a job. Lewis Puller, for his part, decided shortly after completing his rehabilitation to go back to his alma mater, William and Mary, to earn a law degree. Following a series of further qualification tests, she conducted a missile firing exercise with Mahlon S. Tisdale (FFG-27) against supersonic drone targets (2324 April). Taps echoes after the last volley report fades. After a respite in Australia, the 7th Marines, with Puller now serving as the regiments executive officer, landed at Cape Gloucester in northwest New Britain, on December 26, 1943. Fast-forward two years to the 2002 New Zealand Open. In addition to his wife, Puller leaves a son, Lewis B. Puller III, 26, who was born weeks after Puller returned from Vietnam, and a daughter Maggie, 23. Despite that treatment, Puller continued to suffer severe depression and occasional bouts of alcoholism. Throughout the months of JulyAugust, she conducted workups for a five-week long Pacific Exercise (Pacex). He described how his father broke down weeping and that hurt him more than any of his physical injuries. "If she thought, 'This is horrible -- he is in a wheelchair forever,' then life would have been over.". Or purchase a subscription for unlimited access to real news you can count on. "More than anything," she says, "he needed to feel like he was a man.". He arrived in July 1939 and resumed command of the Marine detachment on the Augusta. During Varsity Player-92, Lewis B. Puller steamed to New Westminster, B.C., making port visits at New Westminster (911 August 1991) and Nanaimo (12 August). As a solid for his New Zealander caddie, Steve Williams, Tiger agreed to play the low-profile New Zealand Open. Then again, considering his previous "Classiest Move" was deciding at the last second not to hock a loog on a green-side reporter, he hadn't set the bar very high. And of love. To the list of names of victims of the Vietnam War, add the name of Lewis Puller, she said in a statement Wednesday night. He participated in two counterinsurgency campaigns in Haiti and in Nicaragua as a part of the Banana Wars, and later fought in World War II and the Korean War. A misfire on board Lewis B. Puller the next day caused a good deal of excitement amongst the crew, and Cmdr. He led his old regiment in the daring amphibious assault on Inchon (September 15, 1950), during vicious street fighting in Seoul (September 2527, 1950), and through the maelstrom of subfreezing weather and relentless Chinese human-wave attacks in the Chosin Reservoir campaign (NovemberDecember 1950). A photo unearthed from the Marine Corps Archives and posted to the Archives Flickr and Facebook accounts shows Lt. Gen. Lewis Burwell "Chesty" Puller out of uniform and apparently in retirement. He was survived by his wife, Linda T. "Toddy" Puller, from whom he had separated in 1991. Kerrey, a Navy SEAL, lost his right leg below the knee to a grenade in 1969. Puller was graduated from the Christchurch School, in Christchurch, Virginia, in 1963 and from the College of William and Mary in 1967. "I'll take a big gulp and look around, and if this has been real successful and enough people tell me that I write well enough, I might try to write something else. America (CV-66) and her escorts, including Lewis B. Puller, relieved BG Bravo in the North Arabian Sea (10 June 1986). Like most Virginia boys, Lewis Puller learned early and by heart Jackson's last, deathbed words after the Battle of Chancellorsville. Turning Life Around I begrudgingly came to realize that I must undergo a drastic change in attitude to avoid spending the rest of my days as a miserable, lonely freak. On November 8 Puller was wounded in a Japanese machine gun and artillery attack on his command post. After a port visit to Victoria, B.C., (24 December), the guided missile cruiser conducted a successful torpedo exercise (58 December) off Nanoose Bay before steaming back to Long Beach for the holiday season. Join Facebook to connect with Lewis Puller III and others you may know. During several short underway periods off Long Beach in JanuaryMarch 1988, Lewis B. Puller participated in ASW exercises. Another difference between The Masters and the U.S. Open the sounds. The United States had just entered World War I when he finished high school, but he chose to attend Virginia Military Institute. He was thinking, he says, about not wanting his kids to know he was a lush. He followed in his father's footsteps and became a Marine officer. Thursday 01/21/1993. On February 1, 1944, he was promoted to temporary colonel, and in September 1944 he was given command of the 1st Marines for the assault on Peleliu. Lewis B. Puller carried out counter-narcotics operations in the Caribbean while attached to Joint Task Force Four (1 September10 December). "We buried his foot.". She spent the remainder of the year in port at San Pedro. He was a second lieutenant and combat platoon leader until he stepped on an enemy landmine in 1968. Given the toughest assignmentto seize the Umurbrogol Ridge, the heart of the enemys heavily fortified positionhe lost more than half his men. For his actions at Chosin, he received a fifth Navy Cross, becoming the only Marine in history to earn that many awards of the nations second highest military decoration. Without further incident, the seasoned vessel returned to Long Beach (20 April). Mrs. Lewis B. Puller, ships sponsor, and Commander Ralph K. Martin, commanding officer, stood at the podium during the commissioning ceremony for the guided missile frigate Lewis B. Puller (FFG-23) at Naval Air Station, Long Beach, 17 April 1982. Marine Corps General Lewis B. Puller Lieutenant Colonel Lewis B 'Chesty' Puller, USMC, Commanding Officer of 1st Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands, 1942. January 1993. Days later two-thirds of his stomach had to be removed. 'I Wanted to Walk So Badly' For two years he lived at the Philadelphia Naval Hospital, which was doing a booming business because of the steady flow of returning limbless veterans. His hands are jammed into the pockets of his brown suit and he's holding a tobacco pipe in his teeth. Nobody around me was like me anymore. Upon returning to Long Beach, the guided missile cruiser began conducting counter-narcotics operations to the south, aggressively prosecuting small craft in search of contraband off the Channel Islands and the Northwest Baja coast (418 October). Gore's caddie, Lewis Puller III, wore a trucker-styled Pabst Blue Ribbon cap throughout the U.S. Open. The book won the Pulitzer Prize in 1992. Friends told The Washigton Post that Puller had started drinking again and that he had struggled recently with an addiction to prescription painkillers. Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography, Vietnam Civil Actions Medal Unit Citation, "Veterans Day Event to Celebrate Naming of Lewis B. Puller Jr. Veterans Benefits Clinic", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Lewis_Burwell_Puller_Jr.&oldid=1131851942, American military personnel who committed suicide, Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography winners, United States Marine Corps personnel of the Vietnam War, Recipients of the Gallantry Cross (Vietnam), Short description is different from Wikidata, Pages using infobox military person with embed, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 6 January 2023, at 01:52. His book, Fortunate Son: The Healing of a Vietnam Vet, was about his life as his fathers son, his Vietnam experiences and his struggle with depression and alcoholism after the war. His namesake grandson was born just days after his son was so gravely maimed by a booby-trapped artillery round in an operation near Da Nang. His military career began inauspiciously. Lewis Puller, Jr. Category. "Toddy is a real hero," says Kerrey, who remains friends with the couple. Keep supporting great journalism by turning off your ad blocker. [6] In 1991, she was elected to the Virginia House of Delegates. The guided missile frigate Lewis B. Puller was laid down on 23 May 1979, at San Pedro, Calif., by the Todd Pacific Shipyard Corp.; launched on 15 March 1980 and sponsored by Mrs. Virginia M.. He won the 1992 Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography for his autobiography Fortunate Son.[1]. "I questioned for a long time why she would want to stay with me. Puller was the son of the most highly decorated Marine in U.S. history, Gen. Lewis Chesty Puller. ", On another occasion, when Puller was particularly angry and bitter, Kerrey says, he heard Toddy say, "Lewis, I'm going to bury you in a suitcase if you don't stop.". He ran unsuccessfully for Congress in eastern Virginias 1st District in 1978. Your running for the House of Representatives ten years after our meeting in Vietnam reaffirmed the worth of my service there and is a source of great personal satisfaction to me.". As three tugs took Lewis B. Puller under tow from South West Marine Shipyard back to Long Beach, one of the tugs had a maneuvering problem and collided with the frigate (20 March 1992). "I think you don't know what kind of strength you have until you're taxed," says Toddy as she moves around the room, stopping to squeeze in next to her husband in his wheelchair. The situation in China had changed dramatically since his first tour. In May 1942 Puller and the 7th Marines arrived in Samoa to defend against a possible Japanese attempt to sever the sea lanes between the U.S. and Australia. ", The Will to Stay Together When she bent to kiss me, the warmth of her lips against mine eased my grief, and I was mercifully unable to read the anguish and uncertainty that she hid behind a mask of grim determination. Most appearances with George S . Toddy, then a fourth-grade teacher in Woodbridge, had gotten pregnant on a weekend outing to the Rappahannock River, abruptly scuttling their plans to marry upon his return. He merely wore the hat for its look and for brand loyalty. Pullers next assignment took him to China (193336), where he was in charge of the Marine detachment on the USS Augusta under Capt. After half a dozen shots, I wrote Toddy a brief note telling her that I loved her and the children and that what I was about to do was not her fault. After the phone call I had one more drink, went out to my car, and tightly closed the garage and kitchen doors. He felt his courage caving. Vietnam was "different" is just about all we can say. Lewis Puller Jr. says, smiling as the fourth interview of the day comes to an end. Ralph K. Martin in command. Tormented with aches that never stopped and growing doubts about the war, Puller would scream for morphine. "I felt worthless. His father was the legendary Lieutenant General Lewis B. Tiger, for one day, at least, is just living in it. She has a baby, brings it in and he lives. Among those who knew his true capability, his standing was undiminished. "I had to learn how to stop being fixated on the past, to live in the future," says Puller, a Pentagon attorney turned acclaimed author. Today she is an adviser to Virginia Gov. As weeks passed and he lay immobile and bandaged like a mummy, Lewis Puller rehearsed over and over in his mind what to tell his young wife. DANFS - Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, Permitting Policy and Resource Management, The 9/11 Terrorist Attacks: 20 Years Later, "Ex Scientia Tridens": The U.S. I love Johnny Miller. "She was brutally direct with him," recalls Kerrey, who spent nine months in the hospital ward with Puller. He thinks now that he was unable to find peace until he forgave those who had started and continued the Vietnam War, and until he found purpose in his torments. 'I think this is wonderful,' said Lewis Burwell Puller Jr. at the Fourth of July concert, 'but sometimes I wonder if all this isn't just making it easier for a whole new generation to be sucked into what we were.'. The photo itself holds an element of mystery. Harsh criticism, much of it unjust or misplaced, would dog his reputation thereafter. After accomplishing a holiday upkeep period in Long Beach, Lewis B. Puller began preparing for refresher training (1317 January 1987). In 1918 he enlisted in the Marine Corps, gaining a commission after the conflict was over and never having left the States. If it felt really odd to see Tiger contend, and then fall just short, that's because it was odd. He was dead. Toddy rushed him to nearby Mount Vernon Hospital, and the next day he was transferred to the psychiatric unit at Bethesda Naval Hospital. Reporters, in turn, had noted that it was odd that Campbell was apparently dressing to look like Tiger in a sort of weird, PGA Tour version of "Single White Female. ", There are bigger concerns to think about. Vietnam veteran Lewis Puller, Jr. reflects on his Pulitzer Prize-winning memoir, "Fortunate Son: The Autobiography of Lewis Puller, Jr.," in which he describes his terrible experiences in Vietnam and afterward. Puller, who died in 1971 at age 73, is one of the most decorated Marines of all time, earning five Navy Crosses over the course of his 37-year career. After all, Campbell had been telling reporters he was geeked up to face the great Eldrick. What's harder to argue -- but I will -- is that he also died from the stories we tell ourselves, the myths necessary to nation-building, and a present so awful that the past seems a lie. Now, more than two decades after the explosion, after years so dark that he would wheel himself into pitch-black rooms and brood about life's random blows, Lewis Puller Jr. is ready to talk, and he is telling an extraordinary story of survival. Just a little story to brighten up your day. Granted, it's not exactly Shaq-Kobe, but in the genteel world of golf, it counts for something. William H. Smith ordered the gunnery exercise rapidly cut short and the round disposed of. After the completion of Team Spirit 84, she made way for Subic Bay, Philippines, for eight days of liberty and upkeep (31 March8 April). He has to get ready for a book signing at Olsson's in Georgetown and a radio appearance on "Larry King Live.". However, his name is listed on the nearby In Memory Memorial Plaque, which represents those veterans, like Puller, who "died after their service in the Vietnam war, but as a direct result of that service, and whose names are not otherwise eligible for placement on the memorial wall. After completing the exercise, the group visited Sasebo, Japan (1013 April). As part of the Little Beaver Squadron of Destroyer Squadron (DesRon) 23, Lewis B. Puller participated in the combined U.S.-Canadian exercise Marcot 2-84, off the Strait of Juan de Fuca (1119 September). The formation consists of sevenFFGclass ships of the Naval Reserve Force. With the temporary rank of lieutenant colonel, Puller spent the following months training his men for the battles ahead. When I came to several hours later, Toddy was standing over me, screaming and slapping my face, and all I could think was that my suicide gesture, like my life, had been a failure. His marriage was ending, Scruggs said. The financial strain of paying the World No. Growing up, he was fascinated with the military, reading books and listening to veterans of the American Civil War.He idolized Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson, a general in the Confederate Army.. Chesty Puller, 1950. She also served as flagship for Commander, DesRon 1 (1531 March). It's a rare glimpse of the Marines' most well-known and beloved general. One day he started drinking and decided he wouldn't stop until he was dead. NBC dug up a photo of a 17-year-old Vijay Singh at the 1980 World Team Championships. I would love to go, one day. After performing a series of training events and tests while underway off the Southern California operating area in the first half of 1996, Lewis B. Puller made way for counter-narcotics operations in the Southeastern Pacific and Caribbean Theaters (22 April10 August 1996). That's the number of Tiger's runner-up finishes at majors, after his Miss Congeniality finish at Pinehurst. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. It was a miracle.". "I just told him I wasn't listening to him when he said I should find someone else," she says. But the drinking continued. His three-year stint as tactics instructor occurred during a major expansion of the officer corps, and his lessons on small wars would influence a critical generation of Marine leaders. Maybe not, John Terzano, president of the Vietnam Veterans of American Foundation told The Associated Press. Mistaken for the enemy, shot and mortally wounded by his own men, Jackson's death too was a kind of suicide. The world that the so-called Vietnam generation inherited was not supposed to work the way it did. The following year he won the 1992 Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography. And he bore them well for 25 years," he said. On December 26, 1932, just five days before the end of the U.S. intervention, Puller led a Guardia unit in one of the biggest victories of the conflict at El Sauce. When this June 6, President Clinton represents the United States at the 50th anniversary of D-Day, Lew Puller's story will be alive. Chesty Puller, USMC, during the Korean War,1 September 1950. This appeals to me, hugely. Puller joined the 4th Marines in Shanghai and was promoted to major in August 1940. Jan Scruggs, president of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, said he spoke last week with his friend and that he sounded depressed. Lewis Puller Jr., son of "Chesty" Puller -- the most decorated Marine in history, a man who had covered himself with glory from Guadalcanal to Inchon -- had been married five months when an enemy trap near a glimmering white beach blew his storybook life to bits. Don M. Boileau, who taught a class at George Mason with Puller, said he received a handwritten note Wednesday from his colleague. Chester Nimitz and led the famed Horse Marines in Beijing. National Archives Identifier: 6526424. Puller, son of the late and legendary Lewis Burwell 'Chesty' Puller, lost both legs and parts of his hands in Vietnam 19 years ago, where as a Marine platoon leader he won the Silver Star, a Navy commendation for valor, two Purple Hearts and the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry. Lewis B. Puller deployed to the Western Pacific and Indian Ocean with Battle Group (BG) Bravo, consisting of aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk (CV-63) (13 January1 August 1984). A medic who heard the explosion found one of Lewis Puller Jr.'s feet, still inside his boot, 100 feet from his body. But if we simply remember Lewis Puller, his courageous wheel-chaired image, then that's enough. Puller would go on to serve for 37 years, including combat commands in both World War II and the Korean War. 'It gave me a much greater understanding of the working man,' he said. 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