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Remember...William Harold Shelton
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William Harold Shelton was born October 19, 1922, in Swiss, Nicholas County, West Virginia. William was the son of Elizabeth V. Neil Shelton (1900-1969) and Hugh Shelton (1896-1982). William had two brothers and six sisters: John Benjamin Shelton (1921-1988), Louella A. Shelton (1924-1925), Madge Shelton (1925-2002), Lawrence Hugh Shelton (1927-1987), Mary Ann Shelton (1929-2007), Gail Mozelle Shelton Ray (1939-2024), and Bonnie Jane Emery Shelton (1941-2022). One sister is still living as of this writing: Shirley Scholl.
William was a resident of Montgomery, Fayette County, in the 1930s. Montgomery is a city in West Virginia along the Kanawha River. Most of the city is in Fayette County, with the remainder in Kanawha County. William enlisted in the Army Air Corps January 8, 1942, at Fort Thomas, Newport, Kentucky. World War II was happening, and he was single at the time of his enlistment. U.S. World War II Army Enlistment Records, 1938-1946, show also that he had four years of high school, and prior to his enlistment, was a semiskilled miner or mining-machine operator in civilian life. William reported for active duty on the day he enlisted and was honorably discharged on September 15, 1945. He had achieved the rank of staff sergeant as a member of the 416th Bombardment Squadron, 9th Bombardment Group, Army Air Corps. For his service in World War II, he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross as well as the Air Medal with 6 Oak Leaf Clusters. Writing for the Charleston Gazette, Dallas C. Higbee, who had been the public information officer for the 167th Fighter Squadron, WVANG, has this to say about Sgt. William Shelton: "Termed by his associates one of the best crew chiefs in the business, [he] went overseas with the Eighth Air Force in 1942 and flew 25 missions, returning to the United States in 1943. He volunteered for a second tour overseas and went back late in '43 for 30 more missions. Shelton was one of three brothers in the squadron. William, then 28, and his brothers John, 29, and Larry, 23, were inducted last October [1950] for their second tour of duty with the Air Force." ("Victims Logged Many Hours over Fatal Hill," 9 April 1951.)
On April 23, 1946, William married Rosalee Gray (1927-2003), and they had two children together: William H. Shelton Jr. (1949-2019) and Elizabeth A. Shelton Heft. After William married Rosalee they moved to Elk, Kanawha County, West Virginia, in the 1950s. It appears that he continued to serve his country in the Air National Guard as an airplane mechanic.
| On April 8, 1951, at the age of 28, Technical Sergeant Shelton was a passenger on a C-47D Skytrain transport with the 123rd Maintenance Squadron of the 123rd Fighter Bomber Wing and was stationed at Godman Air Force Base, Kentucky. The aircraft was enroute from Godman to Kanawha County Airport, Charleston, West Virginia, to attend the funeral of fellow guardsman Major Woodford Sutherland, when it crashed about eight miles northeast of the airport, killing all 19 Air National Guard personnel aboard and injuring two, who succumbed to their injuries in the following week. At the time of the tragedy, the West Virginia Air National Guard was only four years old. |  |
Much has been written locally about the crash and its aftermath—the Charleston Gazette and Daily Mail offered timely coverage of the event and its aftermath, and other newspapers around the state followed suit. In a practice no longer familiar, newspapers often published an "extra," which allowed for frequent updates on breaking news. The following account, however, is excerpted from the actual accident report:
After reporting over the Charleston Radio Range at 5000 feet on an IFR flight from Godman Air Force Base, Kentucky to Charleston, West Virginia, the pilot was cleared by Charleston Approach Control to descent to 3500 feet, pending approach clearance. . . . [The pilot then indicated a turn procedure.] The procedure turn report was the last radio contact with the aircraft.The C-47 crashed into a hill approximately 1150 feet high located 4.6 miles from the approach end of runway 23 at Kanawha County Airport and 1.07 miles West Northwest of the Outer Marker beacon. Both wings of the aircraft were sheared off on impact by trees. The fuselage came to rest approximately 125 yards from the point of impact and was almost completely consumed by the fire which apparently was instantaneous with collision. . . .
One of the two survivors of the crash was a rated pilot riding as passenger who succumbed to burn injuries within less than 24 hours. The other survivor lived for approximately one week after the crash. The statements of the survivors indicate that they were positioned further aft in the plane than any of the other passengers and it is worthy of note that one of the survivors stated that to the best of his knowledge all the rest of the passengers who suffered fatal injuries had their safety belts fastened. . . .
[Here the report provides numerous technical details regarding the approach pattern and describes the condition of the aircraft on impact, concluding that the damage made the cause of the crash difficulty to determine.]
The report continues:
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The fact that both survivors reported seeing the airport a short time before the crash lends credence to the belief that the pilot misread the altimeter and was actually flying at 1300 feet indicated when he reported being at 2300 outbound over the inner locator at 1132C. This altitude would put the aircraft below the 1000 foot overcast and above the 500 foot broken ceiling which would enable the passengers to get a glimpse of the airport through the broken cloud layer. |
While most families held individual private services for their lost loved ones, the entire community rallied to their support when a joint service for all was held at the Charleston Municipal Auditorium on April 10. Local newspapers reported that more than 4,000 attended the joint memorial service, with standing room only for more than 500.
| T/Sgt. Shelton was buried at Neil Cemetery, Lockwood, West Virginia. For his service, considered to have occurred during the Korean Conflict, he was awarded the National Defense Service Medal. To this day, West Virginia Air National Guardsmen wear a patch with 21 stars in memory of the 1951 crash victims. |  |
Article prepared by Caroline Kuhn with assistance from Patricia Richards McClure
April 2024
West Virginia Archives and History welcomes any additional information that can be provided about these veterans, including photographs, family names, letters and other relevant personal history.
