STAFF SERGEANT
WILLIAM EDWARD SHUCK, JR., USMC (DECEASED) 
 

Medal of Honor Citation

Staff Sergeant William E. Shuck, Jr., was posthumously awarded the Nation's highest decoration, the Medal of Honor, for heroic action against Communist forces in Korea on 3 July 1952.

As a machine gun squad leader in the 7th Marines, 1st Marine Division, SSgt Shuck participated in a daylight attack against well entrenched enemy forces. When the leader of one of the infantry squads he was supporting became a casualty, SSgt Shuck promptly assumed command of the riflemen.

Severely wounded, he refused medical aid and led his machine gunners and riflemen in an effective attack against the enemy position. Under a heavy barrage of small arms, grenade, artillery and mortar fire, SSgt Shuck personally supervised the removal of the dead and wounded of his command. When wounded a second time, he remained at the scene of action until he was assured all his casualties had been evacuated. As the last wounded Marine was being carried away, SSgt Shuck helped lift the stretcher and was killed instantly by an enemy sniper bullet.

William Edward Shuck, Jr. was born in Cumberland, Maryland, 16 August 1926 and grew up in Ridgely, West Virginia. He was a 1944 graduate of Ridgely High School and was a member of the Naval Reserve from 1944 to 1946. On 14 November 1947, he enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps.

The Medal of Honor was presented to SSgt Shuck's widow by Vice President Richard M. Nixon at a presentation ceremony held at the Marine Barracks, Washington, D. C., 9 September 1953.

Korean War Medal of Honor