Mailbag: 11/11 -- One family pays tribute to their soldier on Veterans Day

This is about our brother, Sgt. Larry Cuff.

Larry enlisted in the Army in the summer of 1966. He had just graduated from high school in Wisconsin Dells.

He was sent to Fort Polk, La., for basic training. He finished his basic training and then was flown overseas to Vietnam in February of 1967.

Assigned to the First Infantry Division, he went to the FCO 2nd Infantry 32nd Infantry LRRP.

In the summer of 1967 his unit was located in Lai Khe, South Vietnam.

Duties while with the 52nd Infantry were recon, search and destroy and prisoner recovery.

Larry came home on leave in December of 1967. While Larry was home, our oldest brother, Franklin Kuhn, was in a terrible accident. Bud, as we called him, passed away from serious head injuries and internal injuries. We buried Bud Christmas Eve 1967.

Larry’s leave was up, and he had to go back to South Vietnam joining the unit. Days, weeks, then months went by. Day after day we didn’t know if Larry was OK, alive or what. All we could do was hope and pray and hold Larry in our prayers.

Then one morning we were getting ready for school. There was a knock at the door. It was the Sauk County Sheriff’s Department. The sheriff had a paper in his hand.

It was a telegram from the Red Cross stating Larry had been wounded and missing in action.

I started crying and ran upstairs to my room. A lot of thoughts were running through my mind, was our big brother alive, was he hurt really bad. Or what. It was like a horrible nightmare.

I believe in guardian angels because there surely was an angel watching over Larry.

The Red Cross finally found Larry in a hospital in Vietnam. Larry’s wounds in his leg were from shrapnel.

As time went by, our big brother came home on leave again.

We went to the airport to pick Larry up. We always went with Mom and Dad to pick my big brother up.

My twin sister and I would run down the hall to the gate. Larry would be walking through. Larry got off the plane on crutches. I couldn’t hold back the tears. I was only 9 years old. I was so proud seeing my brother in his Army uniform and his big shiny boots.

Larry wasn’t home long and he had to go back.

In January of 1969 Larry’s unit was awarded and the name changed to I Co. 73rd Rangers.

While still with the unit, one of Larry’s buddies had been shot by the enemy.

Larry saw the soldier go down. Larry went over where the soldier was, picked him up and put him on his back and carried him back to camp. Before they got back to camp the soldier on Larry’s back passed away.

Going through all of this, and all the hurt and hell in the past, Larry still went on. Larry finished his tour of duty in Vietnam and the Army in 1969. Larry and the unit received many awards and medals.

Larry found a special and precious lady, Gail Hodge, and took her hand in marriage in 1972.

Then Larry went to college for law enforcement, retiring as a detective. Through the years Larry and Gail had two boys, Jeremy and Jason, four grandsons and one granddaughter.

Larry is a proud husband, father and grandfather, and his family is proud of him for fighting for our freedom.

 

 Your family, Cheryl and Bob Moore, Sue Cone, Randy McCormick, David Cuff, Herman and Barb Nellen, Sharon and Dave Cross, Judy and Vince Miller, Gwenda Fohr, Roger and Edith Kuhn, Jeremy and Jason Cuff, and the grandchildren