Ralph McCullough was born on April 28, 1923, in Albany, New York. He enlisted in the U.S. Navy on January 21, 1941, and served on ships in the Pacific Theater until his honorable discharge on September 28, 1945. McCullough later enlisted in the U.S. Army Reserve on April 20, 1954, and went on active duty in the Army beginning August 21, 1955. His first assignment on active duty in the Army was as a Marine Engineer with Company A of the 159th Transportation Battalion at Fort Eustis, Virginia, from October 1955 to August 1956, followed by service as a Marine Engineer with the 81st Transportation Company in France from August 1956 to June 1959. Sgt McCullough served as a Marine Engineer with the U.S. Army Transportation Research Engineering Command at Fort Eustis from July 1959 to March 1960, and then attended Aircraft Maintenance School at Fort Rucker, Alabama, from March to May 1960. His next assignment was as a Single Engine Aircraft Mechanic back with the U.S. Army Transportation Research Engineering Command at Fort Eustis from May 1960 to July 1962, and then with the Aviation Detachment of the 7th Logistical Command in South Korea from July 1962 to May 1963. He served as a Single Engine Aircraft Mechanic with the Enlisted Student Company at the U.S. Army Aviation School Regiment at Fort Rucker from June to August 1963, followed by service as a Multi-Engine Aircraft Mechanic with Company C, 226th Air Surveillance and Attack Battalion of the 11th Army Air Defense at Fort Benning, Georgia, from August 1963 to June 1965. Sgt McCullough served as a Multi-Engine Aircraft Mechanic with Company B, 2nd Battalion of the 29th Infantry Regiment at Fort Benning from July to October 1965, and then as an Airplane Technician Inspector with Company A, 1st Battalion of the U.S. Army Infantry Center at Fort Benning from October to November 1965. His next assignment was as an Instructor with the U.S. Army Transportation School at Fort Eustis from November 1965 to April 1967, followed by Transportation Warrant Officer school at Fort Eustis from April 1967 until he was appointed a Warrant Officer in the U.S. Army on August 16, 1967. WO1 McCullough served as an Instructor in the Marine Engineer Branch at the U.S. Army Transportation School at Fort Eustis from August to December 1967, and then as a Marine Engineer with the 5th Transportation Company in South Vietnam from February 1968 until he was captured in Cambodia and taken as a Prisoner of War while serving aboard the landing craft LCU-1577 on July 17, 1968. After spending 156 days in captivity, CW2 McCullough was released by his Cambodian captors on December 19, 1968. He was briefly hospitalized to recover from his injuries at Fort Benning, and then served as a Training Officer at the U.S. Army Transportation School at Fort Eustis from March to August 1969. His final assignment was as Chief Engineer of the Marine Engineer Crash Rescue Division with Headquarters U.S. Army Aviation School Element at Hunter Army Airfield, Georgia, from September 1969 until he was medically retired from the Army on December 15, 1970. Ralph McCullough died on October 5, 1985, and was buried at Evergreen Memory Gardens Cemetery in Columbus, Georgia.