Well, he’s gone. At least from this earth. I don’t like it. He passed on August 13, 2024. Yet I know he’s in Heaven receiving God’s grace and thanks for a job done well during his mortal days. Would you allow me to share a few words with you about this incredible warrior and American Patriot? Once I came to know him, all I wanted was to be like him. I fell short. Everybody did.

General Gary Luck was an ROTC guy out of Kansas State — just a regular graduate until he found his calling and his country found him. It was magic. He started out as a tanker/armor guy, shifted to infantry and Special Forces, then was trained as an aviator. The bottom line was that he had experience across the full spectrum of combat operations — from light infantry to tanks to steel from the air. He knew more about this stuff than any General or Admiral I ever encountered.

Luck fought in Vietnam as a Special Forces A Team leader, then commanded an Air Cavalry Troop of attack and scout helicopters during his second tour. As a two-star Major General, Luck commanded Joint Special Operations Command, leading America’s two most elite counterterrorist units, the Army’s Delta Force and the Navy’s Seal Team Six. Try taking that on if you don’t have anything else to do.

Then Luck led the Army’s famous 2nd Infantry Division, facing down the Great Leader, Kim Il-sung, across the Demilitarized Zone in South Korea. The Great Leader made the right decision in not challenging Luck and his “Second to None” warriors.

Now, for General Luck’s most incredible contribution. As a Lieutenant General, he led America’s XVIII Airborne Corps, America’s Contingency Corps, against the northwest flank of the vaunted Iraqi Republican Guard (RG) and its eight elite armored divisions during Desert Storm. General Norman Schwarzkopf told me in private that Luck was the best Corps Commander in the Army and that he would rip the RG to shreds. Schwarzkopf was right. Luck did it like the Patton proverbial “crap through a goose.”

With his Airborne Corps equipped with tanks, light infantry, air assault infantry, and attack helicopters, Luck led the greatest cavalry charge in American warfare history, taking his Corps 200 miles deep into Iraq and up to the Euphrates River in just under three days. Most could not do that in two weeks. From there, he attacked east and destroyed all the Republican Guard forces that challenged his formations. Luck and his troops made sure it wasn’t a fair fight. Schwarzkopf followed up his earlier comment to me with a short, “Told ya.”

Realizing the continuing challenge of the North Koreans, our president sent Luck back to Korea, this time as a four-star full General commanding all American and South Korean military forces. The two allies were continuing their years-long effort to deter North Korean aggression. Kim Il-sung and his follow-on son/leader, Kim Jung-il, blinked more than once. They wanted nothing to do with Luck. They knew better and thus were smarter than I thought.

When Gary Luck retired as a four-star, he went to work for Joint Forces Command to train American senior leaders from all Services (Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines) in the fineries of Joint and Combined warfare. He was the best. While I knew him earlier when I was a Colonel and he was a three-star, I needed his help when I was a Heavy Armor Corps Commander myself, leading America’s III Armored Corps. The master helped me through it. Thank God. Then when I was in Europe as the Commander of U.S. Army Europe and NATO’s Land Component Command, there was Luck again, helping me train V Corps for deployment to Iraq. Thank you, sir.

And for reasons still hard to figure, the president sent me to Korea as a four-star to take Luck’s old position. I called Luck on the way over there and said, “Sir, don’t let me screw this up.” While he reassured me and let me know that I’d do just fine, he did come to Korea whenever I asked to provide me with his advice and counsel. I needed it, and he was totally selfless in his giving. Again, thank God.

Now, this great warrior is gone. I miss him, and I don’t like it. Where does America find such incredible and fearless servants of the people? The Lucks of the world ask nothing and give everything. If you have a second, please say a “thank you” prayer for this man. He made me and many other senior generals and admirals better leaders — a lot better. He gave America everything he had. You can spell his name Luck or Patriot. They are one and the same.

May God rest and keep his soul.