Shelton, William Boyce
Army Corporal

William Boyce Shelton, age 20, from Contra Costa, California, Contra Costa county.

Service era: Korea
Military history: 35th Infantry Regiment; DCS citation: The President of the United States takes pride in presenting the Distinguished Service Cross (Posthumously) to William B. Shelton (RA19293680), Corporal [then Private First Class], U.S. Army, for extraordinary heroism in connection with military operations against an armed enemy of the United Nations while serving as a platoon scout with Company B, 1st Battalion, 35th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division. Corporal Shelton distinguished himself by extraordinary heroism in action against enemy aggressor forces near Haman, Korea, on 19 August 1950. On that date, Company B launched an attack against the enemy who were entrenched on a ridge near Haman. Corporal Shelton was advancing toward the objective when he came upon an enemy soldier crouching behind a boulder. He kicked the weapon from the hands of the enemy, shot him, then shifted his fire and killed two more enemy who were only a few yards away. During this action the platoon machine-gunner and his assistant were killed while trying to put their gun into operation. Although partially blinded by blood which was flowing from a head wound he had received, Corporal Shelton ran to the machine-gun position, removed the bodies of his comrades, set up the gun, and delivered devastating fire on the enemy, which was instrumental in the success of the company’s attack.

Date of death: Monday, November 27, 1950
Death details: On November 27, 1950, B Company of the U.S. Army’s 35th Infantry Regiment, an element of Task Force Dolvin/Wilson, was holding a hastily erected defensive position near the village of Tong-dong, North Korea, when Chinese Communist Forces (CCF) attacked the company’s perimeter from two sides. After heavy fighting, the Chinese successfully infiltrated the American positions, forcing a withdrawal under heavy mortar and artillery fire. The U.S. troops pulled back to another position a mile farther south. Sergeant William Boyce Shelton entered the U.S. Army from California and served with B Company, 1st Battalion, 35th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division. On November 27, SGT Shelton was captured southeast of Unsan during this withdrawal from Tong-dong. As a prisoner of war (POW), he was eventually marched to POW Camp 5, Pyoktong, on the Yalu River, where he died on or before March 31, 1951. His remains were not identified among those returned to the U.S. following the ceasefire, and he is still unaccounted-for. Today, Sergeant Shelton is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

Source: National Archives, 35th Infantry Regiment Association, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency