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| Sgt. William Shelton served in the 82nd Airborne Division's Signal Company. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/122066432/william-clarke-shelton |
William Clarke Shelton never had a chance to reach 100 years old today. Instead, he sacrificed his life for our freedom.
He was born on February 11, 1918 in North Carolina. His parents Thomas and Annie were also both born in North Carolina. His father worked as a machinery salesman. William had one older brother and may have been adopted because he is not listed in the 1920's census.
He enlisted in the army on March 16, 1942 and volunteered for paratrooper training. He ended up a T/4 sergeant in the Signal Company of the 82nd Airborne Division. It first saw action in Sicily in July 1943 and then in Italy at Salerno. It was pulled out for preparation for the D-Day invasion.
Sgt. Shelton either landed in Normandy by parachute or glider in the early morning hours of June 6, 1944. The Signal Company played an especially important role in an airborne division since it was tasked with managing communications while behind enemy lines. Sgt. Shelton was killed on D+1.
His grave is at Oakwood Cemetery, High Point, North Carolina.
Last year on this date I profiled Johnston Wiles, a naval officer who died supporting the D-Day invasion. You can read about Johnston here. It's a great read. I recommend it!
On behalf of the fallen, if you would like to see more people become aware of this project to honor the WW2 fallen, be sure to share with others on Twitter, Facebook, etc. Thanks for your interest!
I created this video to explain why I started this project: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXt8QA481lY.
Please consider joining the public Facebook group to increase the exposure of this project. Go to: WW2 Fallen 100
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