First Name: N/A

Last Name: Ruff

Middle Initial:

Date of Birth: N/A

Sex: Male

Martial Status: Not Sure

Number of Children: Not Sure

Home Town: Washington State I believe

Education Completed: Not Sure

Other Occupations:

Branch of  Service: Army

Highest Rank: E-5

Serial Number: N/A

Platoon: N/A

Age at Start of Service: Not Sure

Years of Service: Not Sure

Combat Veteran: Yes

Time in Combat: less than 1

Place of Combat: S Vietnam

Awards:

Year of Suicide: 1969

Suicide Method: Grenade

Veteran’s Story: Sgt. Ruff was a dedicated individual. While waiting on orders for Vietnam at Ft. Leonard Wood, Sgt Ruff was stationed as a permanent party personell. Our class of 72 soldiers were going thru the NCO Academy at Wood and on weekends we were off except for those who were on extra duty, Sgt Ruff would always take the extra duty for us and never complained. He finally got orders and went to Vietnam. When I finally got there after six months I was reassigned to another company and it was there I ran into another old friend who went to Vietnam with Sgt Ruff. I asked about him and how he was doing and he told me he has gone home, he pulled the pin on a grenade said goodbye to all his buddies on top of the burm and was gone. I never figured out why, a person with so much good going for you why end it all this way.To this day I still remember Sgt Ruff even though our time was short, Sgt Ruff was a person you could count on to do the right thing. We will never understand the reasons for thid type of behavior among humans but we should understand their needs and not overlook the obvious. Thanks Sgt Ruff for your dedication to Service.

Submitted By: Sgt Karl H Volz

Relationship to Veteran: Comrade