He was active in sports and Boy Scouts in his youth, proving his bravery and resourcefulness at 13 by pulling his drowning younger brother and a friend from a freezing mill pond.

While the boys in his high school social fraternity would nickname him "Duke" for his good looks and fastidious dress, and his family would call him "Tommy", he would be known by many as simply "Rube.

Fortunately, his determination to remain at the academy helped him in passing two days of exams for re-admission, which allowed him to be "turned back" and join the Class of 1935.

Tucker volunteered for the paratroopers, part of the United States Army's newly created airborne forces, at Fort Benning, Georgia.

On 1 December 1942, as described in detail by historian Frank van Lunteren in Birth of a Regiment, Colonel Theodore Dunn was removed from command by Ridgway, after two battalion inspections.

Due to the number of casualties sustained during the fighting in Italy, Tucker and the rest of the 504th did not participate in the Allied invasion of Normandy, instead remaining in England.

Colonel Tucker was an outstanding combat leader during the war, and had a marked and lasting influence on many members of the 504th PIR through his traits of character, leadership ability, sense of humor, and understanding.

Tucker's final resting place in Beaufort National Cemetery is located in close proximity to the graveside of his oldest son, who was killed in action in Vietnam.

He was awarded two Distinguished Service Crosses, the United States' second highest medal for bravery, one of which was personally presented by President Franklin D. Roosevelt during a visit to Castelvetrano, Sicily, in December 1943, for extraordinary heroism under hostile fire in Italy in September.