Tom Ruck

Thomas M. Ruck (born January 16, 1954) is an American author, speaker, and patriot.

Early life and education

Ruck was adopted at an early age by Joseph M. Ruck (1921-1967) and Eleanor R. Ruck (1924-1998). After his father's death in 1967, his mother married Stanley E. Lay (1924-1999).

In 1972, Ruck graduated from Mehlville Senior High School, St. Louis. He was chosen as a member of the prestigious McDonald's All American High School Band, where two musicians were selected from each state and marched in the 1971 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and the 1972 Tournament of Roses Rose Parade. Ruck was very active and held leadership roles in many community and school events, and was named as the most outstanding senior by his fellow classmates.

Ruck holds a Bachelor of General Studies degree from the University of Missouri, Columbia (1976). He was a member and officer of Sigma Phi Epsilon's Social Fraternity, the Phi Mu Alpha Music Fraternity. He served as an Officer of the University of Missouri Alumni Association Student Board. Ruck was the Chairman of all the Homecoming festivities at the University of Missouri in 1975 and participated in many of the University Band Programs; Mini-Mizzou, Percussion Ensemble, and Marching Mizzou. Through Marching Mizzou, he went to England to perform at many events and venues celebrating the Bi-Centennial of the US. Ruck was a very active student, and served on many other student, faculty, and Greek Leadership Committees.

Career

Before publishing his book, Ruck held national marketing and sales leadership positions primarily with nationwide financial and healthcare corporations. Seven years after publishing his award-winning book, he joined the Department of Veterans Affairs. He served as the Director at Fayetteville National Cemetery (2014-2016), the Director of the Los Angeles National Cemetery (2016-2020), and as the Strategic Planning Officer for the Department of Veterans Affairs Long Beach Medical Center (2020 – 2022). Ruck started as a Senior Advisor with the Department of Homeland Security, developing national partnerships and awareness campaigns for Human Trafficking in 2022.

Ruck considers it an honor to have opened the first Urban Initiative Columbarium in the United States for the National Cemetery Administration while he was the Director at Los Angeles National Cemetery. He personally created and produced the Grand Opening Ceremony that featured then-Secretary of the Department of Veteran Affairs, Robert Wilkie, Undersecretary for Memorial Affairs Randy Reeves, Congressman Ted Lieu, and actor and veteran advocate Gary Sinise was the Keynote Speaker. The ceremony was presided over by MC, Johnny Holiday.

During the 2020 COVID-19 shutdown of all outdoor activities, Ruck created and jointly produced with ABC 7 in Los Angeles a one-hour live Memorial Day Program from four stages at Los Angeles National Cemetery. He again collaborated with ABC-7 to present Memorial Day 2021 from the VA Long Beach Medical Center and the USS Iowa. Both programs were hosted by ABC 7 news anchor, David Ono, showcasing educational, informational, and entertainment programming geared towards the veterans of Los Angeles.

From 1981 to 1990, Ruck was the Co-chairman of Entertainment for the VP Fair (America's biggest birthday party) under the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, with over one million daily visitors enjoying 16 stages of live music and entertainment. Ruck participated and was very active with the St. Louis Variety Club from 1983 to 1987, and was a member of the St. Louis Ambassadors from 1984 to 1989. Ruck has also served on the National Board of Directors for the University of Missouri Alumni Association and is a Past President of the St. Louis Chapter (1985).

Ruck is a member of the Pasadena Tournament of Roses and has served on many different committees. Among those, he was the TV Liaison for RFD TV (2022). He was the Liaison for Lindbergh High School Band, St. Louis (2018), and the Penn State University Marching Band (2017). He was the Liaison for the Canines with Courage float (2013), and the City of Los Angeles float (2014), and was Co-Chairman of the Lawry's Beef Bowl (2020).

Ruck was also named Co-Chairperson of D-Day 75, Los Angeles, by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors in 2019. He was presented to two Presidential Transition Teams for the position of Under Secretary for Memorial Affairs for consideration by President Barack Obama (2008) and President Joe Biden (2020).

Ruck is also a member of the Sons of the American Legion, Squadron 291 in Newport Beach, CA., and serves as a Visiting Fellow to the Freedom Alliance Foundation in Dulles, VA.

Speaker

Ruck has appeared on over 100 radio and television programs and served as keynote/featured speaker at over 50 national and regional events (2007-2015). Ruck was an invited guest speaker at the 70^th anniversary of D-Day (2014) in Sainte Mere-Eglise in Normandy, France honoring the men of the 82^nd and 101^st Airborne for their courageous efforts that fateful day. Among his other notable appearances, he was a guest speaker at the Defender of Freedom Symposium in Washington D.C., and at the Freedom Alliance Gala in Laguna Beach, CA. Both the Boeing Corporation and his “hometown” St. Louis Cardinals have honored Ruck for his achievements in supporting America’s Veterans and his contributions to veteran causes.

Some of his selected speaking engagements at Department of Veterans Affairs Facilities are as follows:

• Memorial Day - Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery, St. Louis, MO.- Keynote Address, 2008
• Memorial Day - Riverside National Cemetery, Riverside, CA. - Master of Ceremonies, 2009
• Memorial Day - Ft. Rosecrans National Cemetery, San Diego, CA.- Welcome Address, 2010
• Memorial Day - Ft. Logan National Cemetery, Denver, CO. - Keynote Address, 2011
• Memorial Day - Cypress Hills and Long Island, National Cemeteries, Keynote Address, 2012
• Memorial Day - San Antonio National Cemetery, Keynote Address, 2013
• Veterans Day - Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery, Keynote Address, 2013
• Easter Sunday - Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery – Sunrise Service Featured Speaker, 2014

Publications

• Tom Ruck, 2007. Sacred Ground: A Tribute to America's Veterans. Regnery Publishing, part of Salem Communications. All proceeds from the sale of the book go directly from the publishing house to the Freedom Alliance Scholarship fund which provides scholarships to children who lost their parents while wearing the uniform of America.

Awards and recognition

Ruck's book, Sacred Ground, A Tribute to America's Veterans, attained a #5 on sales ranking from Amazon upon release. The book was awarded a Secretary's Commendation by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs and Gordon Mansfield in 2007 by the Acting Secretary of Veterans Affairs. In 2009, the book received the USA Best Book Award for History-Military, the Gold Medal from the Military Writers Society of America for Non-Fiction, and the Grand Prize from the Branson Stars & Flags Book Awards. Ruck conducted book signing events at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library from 2009-2012.

In 2015, Ruck was awarded a Secretary's Award for the creation, production, and distribution of the DVD, My VA Ozarks, which was designed to present all the VA services to veterans living in the rural areas of Northwest Arkansas, Southwest Missouri, and Northeast Oklahoma through faith-based entities. Additionally, in the same year, Fayetteville National Cemetery was one of 16 NCA cemeteries to receive a top Customer Service Award for serving the veterans and their families of northwest Arkansas.

Personal life

Ruck currently resides in the Alexandria, VA area and spends additional time throughout the year in Southern California.

He was married to the late Deborah Vatterott from St. Louis (1985-1992) and to Cincinnati native, Sheryl A. Stewart, from 1995 until her death in 2008.