Paul Bucha

Paul William Bucha (August 1, 1943 – July 31, 2024) was an American Vietnam War veteran and a recipient of the Medal of Honor. He was a foreign policy adviser to Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign.

Early life and education Bucha was born on August 1, 1943, in Washington, D.C. He was of Croatian descent; his paternal grandfather immigrated to the United States from the Croatian town of Našice. He graduated from Ladue Horton Watkins High School in 1961. An all-American swimmer in high school, Bucha was offered athletic scholarships to several universities but turned them down and attended the United States Military Academy at West Point. After graduation he earned a Master of Business Administration at Stanford University before beginning his military career at Fort Campbell.

Vietnam War and Medal of Honor Bucha was sent to Vietnam in 1967 as a captain and commander of Company D, 3rd Battalion, 187th Infantry Regiment (Rakkasans). On March 16, 1968, he and his company of 89 men were dropped by helicopter southwest of Phước Vĩnh, He worked as chief of operations in Iran for Ross Perot's company, Electronic Data Systems (EDS). When several EDS employees were detained during the 1979 Iranian Revolution, he was involved in the effort to free them. He then started his own company, which found American partners for foreign investors. With a French real estate developer he formed a joint venture in real estate development He later worked as chairman of the board of Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel Corporation and was president of the Congressional Medal of Honor Society. Bucha unsuccessfully ran as a Republican for the United States House of Representatives in New York's 19th Congressional District in 1994, losing the September 1994 Republican primary to Sue W. Kelly and coming in fourth place.

Bucha was an honorary member of the Rhode Island Commandery of the Military Order of Foreign Wars. Bucha married twice. He had four children.

Bucha died from Alzheimer's disease at a hospital in West Haven, Connecticut, on July 31, 2024, the day before his 81st birthday. He is buried in West Point Cemetery on the grounds of the United States Military Academy, West Point, New York.

Medal of Honor citation