WWII veteran Ray Lincoln Puckett with his partner, Donna Kloster
Courtesy Donna Kloster
World War II veteran Ray Lincoln Puckett was born on Feb. 12, 1925, a birthday he shares with President Lincoln, his namesake. Puckett’s great-uncle, Ezekiel J. Sankey, shared stories of his experience as a Union soldier during the Civil War when Puckett was in grade school. At the age of 97, Puckett lives independently in a home he shares with his partner, Donna Kloster, in King City, Oregon.
Growing up in Iowa during the Great Depression had a profound effect on him, as Puckett told OPB’s “Think Out Loud.” His father died when he was 5 years old. His mother did everything she could to provide for him and his brother.
”We used the barter system,” he said. “My mother took in washing and ironing to make a living and did housework for other people, and got paid with chicken or five dozen eggs, or whatever.”
He had plenty of friends who he says went to bed hungry, but they got by and — as was common at the time — shared as much as they could with others.
”We had a big garden and we lived right close to the railroad track where a lot of ... homeless people would come to the door and knock at least four or five every day. My mother would say, ‘Well there’s the garden. Take what you can actually use, but don’t waste anything,’ which they did. They were very respectable.”
Puckett remembers spending time with his great-uncle Ezekiel Sankey, whom he called “Pappy,” when he was 7 or 8 years old. Sankey told him stories about the war and what he experienced on the battlefield, including a severe wound to his leg, which later had to be amputated.
Puckett said Pappy became a farmer after he was honorably discharged from military service in 1865, and went on to have a long career as a civil servant. His uncle served as a sheriff, treasurer and later as a Democratic representative in the Iowa Legislature.
Puckett says he has always had great respect for those who served their country, whether in the statehouse or the military. He credits his brother with his choice to enlist in the Navy — the same branch of the armed forces he was serving in.
”Join the Navy,” his brother told him. “You’ve always got a good clean place to sleep.” Puckett said he was glad he took his brother’s advice.
”I toured all over the South Pacific,” he said. “When we … took back the Philippine islands, I was the first one in there with MacArthur, and I received the Philippine Independence Medal, which is the liberation of the Philippines when Macarthur went back in.”
Puckett is one of the relatively few surviving veterans of World War II. It’s estimated that fewer than 170,000 remain of the 16 million that served in that war.
If you’d like to listen to the “Think Out Loud” interview with Ray Puckett, push play: