Over two dozen veterans from throughout the Hudson Valley were honored at Senator Greg Ball (R,C,I - Patterson) 2nd Annual Veterans’ Hall of Fame Ceremony. Among them, was Bert Ruiz from the Village of Pleasantville.
The Veterans’ Hall of Fame was created by Senator Ball, and designed to honor outstanding veterans throughout the 40th Senate District. Each veteran that was honored will also be individually featured on a traveling wall that will tour local municipalities throughout the 40th district.
“I am excited to induct this 2nd class of heroes into our Veterans’ Hall of Fame! These men and women have been hand-picked by their communities because they chose a path of courage, honor, integrity and bravery; a path that helped shape America as we know it, protecting our way of life and liberty,” said Senator Greg Ball. “America is not a great country because of its politicians, it’s a great country because of our veterans.”
Bert Ruiz is the Village of Pleasantville’s and one of the Town of Mount Pleasant’s honorees for the 40th District Veterans’ Hall of Fame.
Bert Ruiz was born in Mount Vernon in December of 1951. He joined the United States Marine Corps in March of 1969 at the age of 17, and was honorably discharged in December 1971. He served two combat tours in Vietnam with an elite military intelligence unit named SCAMP. For his service in Vietnam he received the Navy & Marine Commendation Medal with a Bronze Combat “V” for valor on the field of battle. He also received a Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry and his top-secret outfit SCAMP received a Presidential Unit Citation from the Nixon White House.
Bert Ruiz has a BA in English Language & Literature from Pace University and a MA in Journalism from New York University where he was a Ford Foundation Fellow. Today he is a semi-retired Wall Street executive and the author of four history books. He has earned the prestigious “Gran Canciller” Gold Medal from the President of Columbia for his ten-year term as President of the Colombian-American Association, formal Congressional Recognition for the publication of his first book, “The Colombian Civil War,” the “Paul E. Calvet Award,” and the Dyson College Pace University “Distinguished Alumni Award.”
Bert Ruiz is the Commander of the Pleasantville Fancher Nicoll American Legion Post 77, Lead Trustee of the Mount Pleasant Historical Society, Trustee of the Westchester County Historical Society and a lifetime member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars. He has appeared before Congress in open and closed door hearings, lectured at the Heritage Foundation, the Inter-American Dialogue, the Brookings Institution, Human Rights Watch, and the David Rockefeller School of Latin American Studies at Harvard University. He has appeared on CNN, CSPAN, NEWS12, PCTV and Marine Lt. Colonel Oliver North’s “Common Sense Radio Show.”
Bert Ruiz has four sons, one of which, Jack followed his father’s footsteps and is a U.S. Marine Afghan veteran. Bert Ruiz also has two grandsons.
