Medal of Honor Recipient
Richard Shea received the Medal of Honor for actions on 7 and 8 July 1953 as an Army first lieutenant and acting company commander at Pork Chop Hill, Sokkogae, Korea during the Korean War. Fighting outnumbered, he voluntarily proceeded to the area most threatened, organizing and leading a counterattack. In the ensuing bitter fighting, he killed two of the enemy with his trench knife. In over 18 hours of heavy fighting, he moved among the defenders of Pork Chop Hill organizing a successful defense. Leading a counterattack, he killed three enemy soldiers single-handedly. Wounded he refused evacuation. He was last seen alive fighting hand-to-hand while leading another desperate counterattack.
He left behind both a wife and an unborn son. His Medal of Honor was presented to his widow at the parade grounds of Fort Myer, Virginia by Secretary of the Army Robert T. Stevens on May 16, 1955. He is buried at Olive Branch Cemetery in Portsmouth, Virginia.
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