Richard Pearce Hunnicutt (June 15, 1926 – April 29, 2011) was an American historian, known for his research in armored fighting vehicles. Hunnicutt was born in Asheville, North Carolina, to James Ballard Hunnicutt and Ida Belle Black. He altered his birth certificate to enlist in the U.S. Army in September 1943. On 30 April 1945, while assigned to the 7th Infantry Division on Okinawa, he was wounded by enemy mortar fire when his machine gun squad was countering a Japanese attack near Hacksaw Ridge. Shortly after the fight, 10th Army Commander General Simon B. Buckner Jr., came onto the scene, and awarded PFC Hunnicutt the Silver Star and a promotion to Sergeant. Gen. Buckner would be killed in action nearly seven weeks later on the same island by enemy artillery fire. After the war, he was