PropertyValue
rdf:type
rdfs:label
  • Cornelius H. Charlton
rdfs:comment
  • Cornelius H. Charlton (24 July 1929 – 2 June 1951) was a soldier in the United States Army during the Korean War. Sergeant Charlton posthumously received the Medal of Honor for his actions near Chipo-ri, South Korea on 2 June 1951. 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.
owl:sameAs
Unit
  • 24
dcterms:subject
dbkwik:military/property/wikiPageUsesTemplate
Number
  • 0
  • 1
serviceyears
  • 1946
Birth Date
  • 1929-07-24
Branch
death place
  • near Chipo-ri, Korea
Nickname
  • "Connie"
Name
  • Cornelius H. Charlton
Type
  • award-star
  • award-V
Width
  • 30
  • 106
Ribbon
  • Medal of Honor ribbon.svg
  • National Defense Service Medal ribbon.svg
  • Purple Heart BAR.svg
  • KSMRib.svg
  • Korean War Service Medal ribbon.png
  • Presidential Unit Citation .svg
  • United Nations Service Medal for Korea Ribbon.svg
  • World War II Victory Medal ribbon.svg
placeofburial label
  • Place of burial
Birth Place
Awards
death date
  • 1951-06-02
Rank
Allegiance
  • United States of America
Battles
BGCOLOR
  • #c6dbf7
Alt
  • A blue ribbon with a gold outline.
  • A purple ribbon with white stripes on each end.
  • A light blue military ribbon with five white stars with five points each.
servicenumber
  • 12265495
placeofburial
  • Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia United States
Source
  • PFC Ronald Holmes, one of Charlton's subordinates, recounting his Medal of Honor action.
Quote
  • "He got the rest of the men together, and we started for the top. The enemy had some good emplacements ... we couldn't get to him. Grenades kept coming at us and we were chased back down. Again we tried, but no luck. Sgt. Charlton said he was going to make it this time, and he yelled 'Let's go,' and we started up again. We reached the top this time. I saw the sergeant go over the top and charge a bunker on the other side. He got the gun but was killed by a grenade."
abstract
  • Cornelius H. Charlton (24 July 1929 – 2 June 1951) was a soldier in the United States Army during the Korean War. Sergeant Charlton posthumously received the Medal of Honor for his actions near Chipo-ri, South Korea on 2 June 1951. Born to a coal mining family in West Virginia in 1929, Charlton moved to The Bronx in New York City during World War II. Enlisting out of high school in 1946, Charlton served first in occupied Germany, then occupied Japan in administrative duties before requesting transfer to the front. An African American, Charlton was transferred 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 despite mortal wounds until Chinese troops occupying it were destroyed, saving his platoon. For these actions, Charlton was awarded the medal. 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.