Cornelius H. Charlton

Cornelius H. Charlton (July 24, 1929 – June 2, 1951) was a soldier in the United States Army during the Korean War, who was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions near Chipo-ri, South Korea on June 2, 1951.

Born to a coal mining family in West Virginia, Charlton enlisted in the army out of high school in 1946. He was transferred in 1951 to the segregated 24th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division, fighting in the Korean War. During a battle for Hill 543 near the village of Chipo-ri, Charlton took command of his platoon after its commanding officer was injured, leading it on three successive assaults of the hill. Charlton continued to lead the attack until the Chinese position was destroyed, at the cost of his life. For these actions, Charlton was awarded the Medal of Honor.

In the following years, Charlton was honored numerous times, but was controversially not given a spot in Arlington National Cemetery, which his family claimed was due to racial discrimination. The controversy attracted national attention before Charlton was finally reburied in Arlington in 2008.

Early life Cornelius H. Charlton was born in Eastgulf, West Virginia on July 24, 1929. He was the eighth of 17 children born to Van Charlton, a coal miner, and Clara (née Thompson) Charlton, a housewife. In 1944, the family moved to The Bronx in New York City, New York as Van Charlton became the superintendent of an apartment building. Cornelius Charlton enrolled in James Monroe High School. Friends and family knew Charlton as "Connie."

Charlton indicated a desire to join the United States Army from a young age; in high school he begged his parents to allow him to drop out and enlist, wanting to fight in World War II, but his parents refused. When Charlton graduated from high school in 1946, he remained committed to joining the Army, so his parents signed the papers allowing 17-year-old Charlton to enlist.

Upon graduating from basic training, Charlton was assigned to Allied-occupied Germany, where he served out his whole enlistment. Charlton opted to re-enlist, and his next assignment was with a military engineering battalion at Aberdeen Proving Ground in Aberdeen, Maryland.

On June 2, C Company moved to capture Hill 543 near the village of Chipo-ri. The hill was protected by heavily entrenched Chinese infantry as well as mortars at the top of the hill. During their first attempt to advance up the hill, the company took heavy casualties, and the 3rd Platoon leader was mortally wounded. Charlton took command of the platoon and reorganized it for another attack.

Three times, Charlton led the platoon up the hill in the face of intense Chinese mortar and infantry fire. In spite of mounting casualties, the platoon made slow progress. Charlton single-handedly destroyed two Chinese positions and killed six Chinese soldiers with rifle fire and grenades. During one advance, Charlton was wounded in the chest, but he refused medical treatment and pushed the company forward.

Under Charlton's leadership, the platoon managed to overcome the Chinese infantry positions, but it spotted a Chinese bunker on the far side of the top of the hill, from which the mortars were firing on them. As recounted by Private First Class Ronald Holmes, one of the men in the platoon, Charlton decided to destroy the bunker, and with his last known words, "Let's go," he urged the platoon forward, charging at the front of the formation ahead of the rest of his men. However, he is credited with saving much of his platoon, which had been under heavy mortar fire. In 2000, the United States Navy commissioned the USNS Charlton, a Watson-class vehicle cargo ship. Charlton's sister, Fairy M. Papadopoulos, served as the ship's co-sponsor. They were the first two African Americans to be nominated for the Medal of Honor since the Spanish–American War, though several World War II veterans were later nominated. The two nominations had seen delays because unit commanders refused to submit their nominations.

Awards and decorations Charlton's awards and decorations include: alt=A metal device depicting a blue bar with a rifle, in front of a wreath of silver leaves.