Prescott “Puck” Smith
Prescott “Puck” Smith is a retired college basketball coach and Vietnam War veteran who served as an Army Ranger. In his forty-year coaching career, his teams became known for their disciplined and intense style of play – a testament to the lessons he had learned amidst the chaos and horrors of combat.
He graduated from Southwestern Oklahoma State University in 1965 – where he excelled at college basketball – and pursued teaching and coaching in Sacramento, California. His life altered in June 1966 when he was drafted into the Army and joined the countless young Americans whose lives were upended by the Vietnam conflict.
Puck quickly adapted to soldierly life, volunteering for Infantry Officer Candidate School and graduating as a second lieutenant in 1967. This made him a military memoir author. His memoir, “Last Light with the Boys,” is one of the most heartrending and emotional war memoirs, giving an arresting account of his three-year wander through the jungles of Vietnam and how it transformed him.
Now retired, Puck and his wife Linda live in Chico, California, enjoying their time with their three sons and four grandchildren. With Last Light with the Boys marking the start of his journey as a writer, Puck plans to continue sharing more captivating stories and reflections from his rich life, contributing to history books for students and researchers. And teaching the readers what it means to be a true American hero.