Shelton, Merriell A, Cpl

Deceased
 
 Service Photo 
 Service Details
31 kb
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Last Rank
Corporal
Last Primary MOS
0341-Mortar Man
Last MOSGroup
Infantry
Primary Unit
1943-1945, 0311, K Co, 3rd Bn, 5th Marines (3/5)
Service Years
1942 - 1946
Enlisted Collar Insignia
Corporal
One Hash Mark

 Last Photo 
 Personal Details 

60 kb


Home State
Louisiana
Louisiana
Year of Birth
1922
 
This Deceased Marine Profile is not currently maintained by any Member. If you would like to take responsibility for researching and maintaining this Deceased profile please click HERE

This Remembrance Profile was originally created by Cpl Roger Rape (Mouse) - Deceased
 
Contact Info
Home Town
Jackson
Last Address
Jackson
Date of Passing
May 03, 1993
 

 Official Badges 

French Fourragere WW II Honorable Discharge Pin


 Unofficial Badges 




 Additional Information
Last Known Activity:


                                  THE MOVIE "PACIFIC" WAS BASED ON HIS SQUAD DURING WW2.


            HE IS BURIED AT THE BOWMAN-DEDON CEMETERY IN ST FRANCISVILLE, LA

   
Other Comments:

Merriell Shelton was a Louisiana Cajun. He was a gambler prior to his enlistment into the Marine Corps and was a lifetime smoker of non-filter cigarettes. He spoke with a thick Cajun accent which at times made him difficult to understand until you got used to hearing it. Later in life he worked on repairing and installing air conditioners and was considered a quiet man with a hard look about him. Some consider him to have been somewhat of a loner outside of his family.
As a young man during the Depression, Shelton served in the Civilian Conservation Corps. He joined the Marines during WWII and fought with Company K, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division and was given the nickname, "SNAFU", a military acronym for "Situation normal, all fouled up", (thats the cleaned up version) which was not the case at all with this brave young man.
After the battle of Cape Glouchester, which Shelton had participated in, a replacement named Eugene B. Sledge joined the unit and after a brief time, he and Shelton became friends. Shelton gave Sledge the nickname of "Sledgehammer". Shelton and Sledge's exploits on Peleliu and Okinawa are chronicled in Sledge's 1981 classic memoir, "With the Old Breed at Peleliu and Okinawa." Additionally, his relationship with Sledge was also written about in Iain C. Martin's book, "The Greatest U.S. Marine Corps Stories Ever Told." The HBO special "Pacific", produced by Steven Speilberg and Tom Hanks, relates some of SNAFU and Sledgehammer's story as well as those of other Marines who served in the Pacific during the war. When Shelton died in 1993, Sledgehammer was one of his pallbearers.

Merriell A. Shelton was awarded the following decorations for his World War II service:
-Combat Action Ribbon (awarded in the 1960's to all combat Marines back to 1941)
-Presidential Unit Citation (Navy/Marine Corps)
-American Theater of Operations Campaign Medal
-Asiatic-Pacific Theater of Operations Campaign Medal with three bronze campaign stars (for Cape Glouchester, Pelelilu and Okinawa)
-World War II Victory Medal

   

  1942, Boot Camp (San Diego, CA)
School
Boot Camp (San Diego, CA)

Company
Not Specified

Platoon
Not Specified

Start Date 
Aug, 1942
 

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Last Updated:Jul 4, 2016
   
   
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  437 Also There at This Training:
Name Co Ptn Start Date
Allen, Robert K, Pvt, (1942-1944) Aug, 1942
Bahe, Woody Joe, PFC, (1942-1945) Aug, 1942
Baird, Hiram, TSgt, (1942-1945) Aug, 1942
Behling, Arthur Albert, Pvt, (1942-1944) Aug, 1942
Berger, Alvin Oswald, PFC, (1942-1944) Aug, 1942
Blair, Dale Virgil, Cpl, (1942-1945) Aug, 1942
Bray, Buel Wesley, Cpl, (1942-1944) Aug, 1942
Brooks, John Olin, PFC, (1942-1944) Aug, 1942
Brown, George Neal, Pvt, (1942-1943) Aug, 1942
Buckley, Thomas Francis, Pvt, (1942-1943) 000 Aug, 1942
Calcaterra, Louis C, Pvt, (1942-1943) Aug, 1942
Callaghan, Jack, PFC, (1942-1945) 620 Aug, 1942
Carr, Charles Robert, PFC, (1942-1944) Aug, 1942
Case, Charles Vern, PFC, (1942-1945) Aug, 1942
Cash, Robert D, PFC, (1942-1943) 000 Aug, 1942
Cohen, Irving, PFC, (1942-1944) 0000 Aug, 1942
Collins, Charles David, Sgt, (1942-1945) Aug, 1942
Cupp, John Lemual, Cpl, (1942-1945) Aug, 1942
DeBow, Harold G, Pvt, (1942-1943) Aug, 1942
DeLaney, Donald Kenyon, Pvt, (1942-1943) Aug, 1942
DeVictoriai, Joseph Lopez, PFC, (1942-1944) Aug, 1942
Dodd, Stanley Eugene, Pvt, (1942-1945) Aug, 1942
Eakens, William A, Cpl, (1942-1945) Aug, 1942
Edgar, Charles Richard, Cpl, (1942-1945) Aug, 1942
Feltmeier, William C, PFC, (1942-1943) Aug, 1942
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