Cornelius Charlton

Vocation

Traits

American military death, he died in Korea and was dubbed by The Saturday Evening Post 'The Hero of Hill 543'. Charlton was posthumously given the Medal of Honor "for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of life, above and beyond the call of duty." He enlisted in the Army in 1946, after graduation from high school. Deciding to make the Army his career, he was shipped to Europe for the post WWII occupation of Germany. In 1950 he was shipped to the East and assigned as Sergeant Major to an engineering group in Korea.. He requested transfer to an infantry outfit, the 24th Regiment, the only black regiment still operational in the U.S. Army at the time. On June 2, 1951, Army Sergeant Charlton died but not before he distinguished himself in battle near Chipo-ri, Korea. His platoon had come under heavy fire and the commander had been severely wounded and evacuated. Charlton took command, rallied the men and led the assault against the hill, personally eliminating two hostile positions and killing six of the enemy. On the platoon's second attempt to scale the hill, he incurred a severe chest wound. Refusing medical attention, he led a third charge which made it to the hill's crest He charged on alone, spraying the area with fire, but was hit by a grenade as he routed enemy combatants. He died from his wounds on the hill that he had helped secure. He was a month shy of his 22nd birthday. He received his Medal of Honor on January 24, 1952. Link to Wikipedia biography