Sgt. William Shemin was a member of G Company, 2nd Battalion, 47th Infantry Regiment, 4th Division, American Expeditionary Forces and received the Medal for his actions Aug. 7-9, 1918, during combat near Vesle River, Bazoches, France.
He men were hunkered down in a trench and the Germans were likewise about 150 yards away. That open space was No-Man's Land and it meant almost certain death to enter it. But yet, Shemin entered that hell three times to rescue fallen comrades from an earlier attack repeatedly exposed himself to enemy fire.
After all the officers and senior noncommissioned officers were casualties, William Shemin stepped up and took command and continued to display great initiative under fire until he was wounded himself on August 9.
Shemin was honorably discharged in August 1919 and went on to get his degree from the New York College of Forestry. He started a greenhouse and landscaping business in Bronx, New York, where he raised there children. He died in 1973.
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