Peter Ruzila, Jr. was born on August 18, 1941. He graduated from Admiral Farragut Naval Academy in 1958. He participated in high school track and was the manager of the football team. He then attended Bryant College and graduated in 1962 with a degree in business administration.
He resided in Paramus, NJ, prior to serving in the US Army, 1st Infantry Division. He attained the rank of Private First Class (PFC).
On November 1, 1965, while leading a convoy of trucks in South Vietnam, Peter was killed in action when his truck hit a land mine. He had been in Vietnam 17 days.
Ruzila was awarded the Purple Heart, the Military Merit Medal and the Gallantry Cross with Palms awarded by the Government of South Vietnam.
Born on August 18, 1941, Peter Ruzila, Jr. was the first of four children born to Peter and Mary Pleska Ruzila of Passaic, NJ. He attended East Paterson, NJ, (now Elmwood Park) elementary schools. Peter spent his four high school years at Admiral Farragut Naval Academy in Pine Beach, NJ, from which he graduated in 1958. While at Admiral Farragut, Peter was actively involved in a variety of scholastic and sports activities, including track and manager of the football team.
Peter chose to attend Bryant College in Providence, Rhode Island, from which he graduated in 1962, with a BS degree in Business Administration. He was a chaplain in Kappa Tau Fraternity. It had been Peter’s dream to become part of the family business, Ruzila’s Express, an interstate trucking company, founded by his father. His father began the business with a horse and wagon several decades before. As a small child, Peter’s father would take his son “to see the trucks….” It was no wonder that because of Peter’s familiarity with trucks, the Army decided to use young PFC Peter Ruzila, Jr. as a truck driver.
On November 1, 1965, while leading a convoy of trucks in South Vietnam, Peter’s truck hit a land mine and he was killed instantly after being in Vietnam only seventeen days. Meanwhile, back home in Paramus, NJ, the doorbell would ring in the wee hours of the morning to be answered by Peter’s “baby sister” Mary who was presented with the telegram that no family should ever receive. It was not without irony that the telegram was delivered by the Comfort Cab Company.
Peter’s body would lie in state in his parish church, Christ the Savior Orthodox Church, in Paramus, NJ. Some of the highest-ranking clergy of the Orthodox Church in America, including its primate His Beatitude Metropolitan Archbishop Ireney took part in the several days of Orthodox burial services. He was laid to rest with full military honors and the ancient rites of the Orthodox Church.
Having made the supreme sacrifice, Peter’s hometown planted a tree in his memory and named a bridge after him. The family established the Peter Ruzila, Jr. Memorial Scholarship at St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Cemetery. The Orthodox section of the George Washington Cemetery in Paramus was named in his memory. The Garfield Little League established the Peter Ruzila, Jr. Trophy. His college fraternity named their annual initiative award in his memory.
A “grateful nation” posthumously awarded Peter the Purple Heart while the government of South Vietnam awarded him their two highest medals: The Military Merit Medal and The Gallantry Cross with Palms. Peter’s parents did not live to see his name on “The Wall” having both died not many years later with breaking hearts over the loss of their son.
If any good has come out of Peter Ruzila, Jr.’s death it is that as a direct result of this most terrible tragedy, I would meet his sister Evelyn. We would be married less than two years later and our first child, Laura, would be born on her Uncle Peter’s birthday of August 18th. May Peter Ruzila, Jr.’s memory be eternal.
Written by The Very Reverend Thomas Clarke Edwards, Brother-in-Law
The following is an excerpt from The Record about Pfc. Peter Ruzila Jr. dated Monday, January 29, 2973:
The 1st Infantry Division landed in force on the southeastern coast of Vietnam in October 1965, and waited, under steady Communist barrage, to push inland.
Pfc. Peter Ruzila, 24, son of Mr. and Mrs. Peter Ruzila, was among infantrymen awaiting their first combat.
Two weeks after the landing, Pfc. Ruzila was killed when a truck he was driving along the beach ran over a Viet Cong land mine.
Sources: The Very Reverend Thomas Clarke Edwards (brother-in-law), The Record, and NJVVMF.
12/17/2024
