Carlton A. Sheram Jr.
Death at Bastogne
Fighting around the Belgian town of Bastogne was furious the first two weeks of January 1945. The German Army was determined to push through on their way to the harbor at Antwerp. Standing in the way was United States’ Third Army under General George S. Patton and the 101st Airborne Division. Among others units supporting the Third Army was the 15th Tank Battalion of 6th Armored Division. One of the tank commanders in Co. D was a young second lieutenant from Greenville, Texas.
Carlton A. Sheram, Jr. graduated Cum Laude from Greenville High School in 1939. He was a member of the debate team, business manager of the yearbook, and a member of the GHS band. A woman who remembered Carlton brilliantly described him with two words, VERY SMART. While in high school he and his father lived with Carlton’s aunt Laura Pollard.
Carlton attended Texas A&M University where he graduated in January 1943. Ironically he lived in the American Legion House while at A&M. Newspaper clippings state he was a quiet young man, studious, and a devout member of the Baptist Church wherever he lived.
With a brief stopover in Greenville to visit his father and aunt he headed to Fort Riley, Kansas, for training in the Tank Corps. Second Lieutenant Sheram served in England, France, Belgium; all part of the European Theater. By January 1945 the 15th Tank Battalion of 6th Armored Division was positioned just east of the town of Bastogne. Following is a portion of an e-mail I received in April of this year from Ruud Huijts, a resident of The Netherlands.
This is what I know about the circumstances of Carlton’s death: 2nd Lt. Sheram served in the 15th Tank Battalion, 6th Armored Division. In the first two weeks of January 1945, the 6th Armored Division was positioned just east of Bastogne adjacent to the famous 101st Airborne Division. There was some heavy fighting taking place at that time:
Vision was poor and foggy, they (armored tanks) were coming in leap frog style, one group would move then the other, GI style. When they go close enough I had no doubt they were Germans. I waited for the second group to come closer, when I had them in a concentrated group I began to fire. I had them down to three men when Lt. Sheram tried to come into where I was, he got two of them but the third one got him.
Source:https://carolctaylor.com/
