Kenneth R. Shadrick

Early life and education Shadrick was born on August 4, 1931, in Harlan County, Kentucky. He was the third of 10 children born to Lucille Shadrick and Theodore Shadrick, a coal miner. Growing up during the Great Depression, Kenneth Shadrick moved with his family to Wyoming, West Virginia, then to an outlying town called Skin Fork, away, as his father was looking for coal mining jobs. Shadrick was described by his family as "an avid reader" throughout his childhood, who had a variety of interests, including Westerns and magazines. He also enjoyed riding his bicycle and, occasionally, hunting. North Korean forces destroyed isolated resistance, pushing steadily down the peninsula against the opposing 38,000 front-line South Korean men. The majority of the South Korean forces retreated in the face of the invasion, and by June 28 the North Koreans had captured the southern capital, Seoul, and forced the government and its shattered forces to withdraw southward.

Meanwhile, the United Nations Security Council voted to send assistance to the collapsing country and U.S. President Harry S. Truman ordered ground troops to the country. U.S. forces in the Far East had been steadily decreasing since the end of World War II, five years earlier, and Shadrick's division was the closest to the warzone. Under the command of Major General William F. Dean, the division was understrength and most of its equipment was antiquated due to reductions in military spending. In spite of these deficiencies the division was ordered into South Korea, tasked with taking the initial shock of the North Korean advances until the rest of the Eighth United States Army could arrive and establish a defense.

Dean's plan was to airlift one battalion of the 24th Infantry Division into South Korea via C-54 Skymaster transport aircraft and to block advancing North Korean forces while the remainder of the division was transported on ships. The 21st Infantry Regiment was identified as the most combat-ready of the 24th Infantry Division's three regiments, and the 21st Infantry's 1st Battalion was selected because its commander, Lieutenant Colonel Charles Bradford Smith, was the most experienced, having commanded a battalion at the Battle of Guadalcanal during World War II. On July 5, Task Force Smith engaged North Korean forces at the Battle of Osan, delaying 5,000 North Korean infantry for seven hours before being defeated. The 540-man force suffered 163 casualties: 60 killed, 21 wounded and 82 captured, a very heavy casualty rate. In the chaos of the retreat, most of the bodies were left behind, and the fates of many of the missing were unknown for several weeks.

During that time, the 34th Infantry Regiment set up a line between the villages of Pyongtaek and Ansong, south of Osan, to fight the next delaying action against the advancing North Korean forces. The 34th Infantry Regiment was similarly unprepared for a fight, with few soldiers experienced in combat. At this time, Shadrick was part of an M9A1 Bazooka team with 1st Battalion, 34th Infantry. where they spotted a North Korean T-34/85 tank on a road to the north. Shadrick and the other bazooka operators began firing on the tank from long-range concealed positions With them was Sergeant Charles R. Turnbull, a US Army combat photographer. Turnbull asked Shadrick to time a bazooka shot so its flash could be caught in Turnbull's photograph, and Shadrick complied. and he was buried at the American Legion cemetery in the town. Time magazine published a story about Shadrick's death on July 17, 1950, citing Shadrick as the first "reported" death in Korea. Life magazine reported Shadrick for up to a year as the first US soldier to die in the war, including as recently as July 4, 2011, in the local newspaper in Huntington, West Virginia, The Herald-Dispatch.

American Legion Post 133 erected a monument to Shadrick at the Wyoming County courthouse. The monument cites Shadrick's unit, date of death, and notes him as the "first casualty of the Korean conflict" with an epitaph that reads, "He stands first in the unbroken line of patriots who have dared to die that freedom might live, grow and increase its blessings. Freedom lives and through it he lives – in a way that humbles the undertakings of most men." It is one of several memorials to local residents who served in the military.

Subsequent publications have shed doubt on the accuracy of the claims of Shadrick's distinction. Eyewitness accounts at the Battle of Osan point to the first death as a machine gunner in the 21st Infantry Regiment, who had been killed at around 08:30, eight hours before Shadrick's death. This soldier was killed when a different T-34 tank was disabled at the battle and one of its crew members attacked nearby troops with a PPSh-41 "Burp Gun". In the confusion of the battle, many of the wounded and dead troops were left behind by retreating American troops, and a large part of the force was also captured; consequently, the identity of this first combat fatality remains a mystery.

Awards and decorations Shadrick's awards and decorations include:

Combat Infantryman BadgePurple Heart MedalNational Defense Service MedalKorean Service MedalUnited Nations Service Medal for KoreaKorean War Service MedalRepublic of Korea Presidential Unit Citation24th Infantry Division SSI-FWTS