CPT Bucha | jd-lock

In Memory
CPT Paul 'Bud' Bucha
JD Lock, LTC, US Army (Retired)

“Some Rangers need to fall back so the rest of us can lead. That, with a big smile for the privilege of knowing you [JD], and the fact that if ever there were a Ranger born to lead, you look at him when you stare in the mirror in the AM.”

Paul ‘Bud’ Bucha, USMA ‘65
Medal of Honor Recipient
USMA Distinguished Graduate
Ranger Hall of Fame

US Army MoH

Website - Paul Bucha

Congressional MoH Society

Website - Paul Bucha

I was blessed to know Bud for nearly 15 years or so, since around 2010, one of the finest, all-around individuals and leaders I've ever met.

In 2013/2014, I put together the packet that had him selected as a United States Military Academy Association of Graduates Distinguished Graduate.

I enjoy telling the vignette that while putting the DG packet together, the ‘type A’ person in me felt I could ‘take’ Bud in something. I knew ‘leadership’ was not one of the areas given he was a Medal of Honor recipient and academically, though close and we’d both gone back to USMA as professors, he still ‘beat’ me there, having gone to Stanford for his MBA directly after graduation.

So … thought I at least had him athletically having set the USMA record for pushups, benched 355 lbs, and a few other things … that is until I noted he had set not one but two NCAA records in swimming as a cadet.

Next time we met, I told him I really despised him given I apparently couldn’t beat him in anything. He paused for a moment in thought, looked me up and down and then said, “Well, you are taller than I am.” SOB … even had the quick wit ☹

Honored to have known you, Ranger.