SAILOR LISTED AS DECEASED
Albert G. Shelton, son of Mr. and Mrs. Albert Shelton of this city, has been declared dead after being reported missing since July 11, 1943, aboard the submarine Runner, the government has notified his parents.
A pharmacist’s mate first class, Shelton had been in the service for seven years. The submarine he was serving on left Midway island on May 27, 1943, with orders to head for the vicinity of the Kurile island chain and proceed in a southwesterly direction so that the ship would be off the coast of Hokkaido and Honshu, Japan, by June 8. The Runner was to patrol in that area until July 4 and to return to Midway on or about July 11. After leaving Midway the sub was not reported, seen or heard from again, and on July 11 Midway island could not establish radio contact with the Runner as ordered.
“In view of the additional length of time that has elapsed since your son was reported to be missing,” the war department notice said, “and because there have been no official nor unconfirmed reports that any of the personnel serving aboard the Runner survived or were taken prisoners of war, I am reluctantly forced to the conclusion that he is deceased.”
The Webster City sailor was last home on leave in 1942.
Source: Webster City Freeman, Webster City, IA - Jan. 14, 1946
Albert Gerald Shelton, Pharmacist's Mate First Class U.S. Navy - MIA/KIA
Albert Gerald Shelton was born Mar. 26, 1919, to Albert Byron and May Julia Stoner Shelton. He died Jan. 2, 1946, and is memorialized at the Tablets of the Missing, Honolulu Memorial, Honolulu, HI.
Albert was reported missing July 11, 1943, aboard the USS Runner (SS-275) which was probably sunk by a mine north of Hokkaido, Japan. USS
Runner was declared lost with 78 officers and men.
He was awarded the Purple Heart, Bronze Star, American Campaign Medal, World War II Victory Medal, and Combat Action Ribbon.
Sources:
Daily Freeman Journal, Webster City, IA
ancestry.com
World War II Memorial
National Purple Heart Hall of Honor
OnEternalPatrol.com/uss-runner-275.htm
TogetherWeServed.com
