Warren J. Shepherd

He risked grim enemy fire to bring wounded soldiers to cover

Warren Julius Shepherd was born at Cherry Tree, Pennsylvania, on 28 September 1871. He entered the United States Army from St Louis, Missouri, in October 1895 and served with Company D, 17th Infantry. By the Spanish-American War he held the rank of corporal. His wartime experience took him from peacetime Army service to the American expedition against Santiago de Cuba in 1898.

On 1 July 1898, his regiment fought at El Caney, one of the fortified positions protecting the approaches to Santiago. Men wounded in the fighting lay in front of the American line, exposed to Spanish fire. Reaching them required soldiers to leave whatever protection their own position offered and move into ground that the enemy could still cover. Shepherd took part in that rescue work.

Shepherd survived the Cuban campaign and left the Army in November 1898. His Medal of Honor was awarded on 21 August 1899, more than a year after the battle. He moved to California and established a business.

He lived into the Second World War, dying in April 1942. The Congressional Medal of Honor Society records 24 April as his death date and gives his burial place as Inglewood Cemetery in California. His Spanish Campaign Medal reflects his service in Cuba.

Medal of Honor citation

“Gallantly assisted in the rescue of the wounded from in front of the lines under heavy fire from the enemy.”

Source: https://www.army.mil/medalofhonor/citations7.html