Merriell Allesandro "Snafu" Shelton (January 21, 1922 – May 3, 1993) was a

United States Marine The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expeditionary ...

who served in the

Pacific theater The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. He is depicted in the 1981 memoir ''With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa'' by

Eugene Sledge Eugene Bondurant Sledge (November 4, 1923 – March 3, 2001) was a United States Marine, university professor, and author. His 1981 memoir ''With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa'' chronicled his combat experiences during World War II ...

which chronicled their combat experiences. He was also depicted in the

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...

miniseries ''The Pacific'' (2010), in which he was portrayed by

Rami Malek Rami Said Malek (; , ; born May 12, 1981) is an American actor. He is known for portraying computer hacker Elliot Alderson in the USA Network television series '' Mr. Robot'' (2015–2019), for which he received the Primetime Emmy Award for Ou ...

Biography

Early life

Merriell Shelton was born on January 21, 1922, in

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

, to Joseph Price Shelton and Ann/Anna (Sherwood) Shelton. Of

Cajun The Cajuns (; French: ''les Cadjins'' or ''les Cadiens'' ), also known as Louisiana ''Acadians'' (French: ''les Acadiens''), are a Louisiana French ethnicity mainly found in the US state of Louisiana and surrounding Gulf Coast states. Whi ...

descent, Shelton was described as speaking with a "thick accent". He served in the

Civilian Conservation Corps The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was a voluntary government unemployment, work relief program that ran from 1933 to 1942 in the United States for unemployed, unmarried men ages 18–25 and eventually expanded to ages 17–28. The CCC was ...

in his youth.

Military career

Shelton enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1942 and completed boot camp in

San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

. He was assigned to K Company,

3rd Battalion, 5th Marines 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines (3/5, nicknamed Dark Horse) is an infantry battalion in the United States Marine Corps. The battalion is based at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California and consists of approximately 1,000 Marines and Fleet Marine ...

1st Marine Division The 1st Marine Division (1st MARDIV) is a Marine (military), Marine Division (military), division of the United States Marine Corps headquartered at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California. It is the ground combat element of the I Marine E ...

(K/3/5) and served as a mortar man. He participated in the Battle of Cape Gloucester alongside Romus Burgin. In the book ''The Marines at Peleliu, 1944--The Bloodiest Battle of the Pacific War'', author Bill Sloan describes Shelton as a "whiz at

poker Poker is a family of Card game#Comparing games, comparing card games in which Card player, players betting (poker), wager over which poker hand, hand is best according to that specific game's rules. It is played worldwide, with varying rules i ...

, but otherwise his talents involved getting confused, lost, in trouble, and generally fouled up. He would argue about anything at the slightest opportunity, and when he was agitated or inebriated, all those tendencies grew more pronounced. They were also magnified by Shelton's inability to speak understandable English at such times". Sloan also describes how Shelton gained his nickname of "

Snafu SNAFU is an acronym that is widely used to stand for the sarcastic expression "Situation normal: all fucked up". It is a well-known example of military slang, military acronym slang. It is sometimes censored to "all fouled up" or similar. It me ...

" after a fellow Marine asked him how much money he had while they were on a train in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

"I t'ink I got maybe aroun' two pounds and ten ounces-plenty for some drinks an' poker, eh?" to which Burgin replied, "You know what you are, Shelton? You're just one big snafu lookin' for a place to happen"

He met replacement Eugene Sledge on

Pavuvu Pavuvu is the largest of the Russell Islands in Central Province, Solomon Islands. It is located northwest of Guadalcanal. The area is . The largest village is Nukufero on the north coast. The island had served as a coconut plantation for nativ ...

; and the two saw action under the command of Andrew Haldane during the Battle of Peleliu. Sledge's book details his experiences and friendship with Shelton on Peleliu and Okinawa; Shelton gave Sledge the nickname "Sledgehammer". He was discharged from the Marine Corps in 1946 with the rank of

corporal Corporal is a military rank in use by the armed forces of many countries. It is also a police rank in some police services. The rank is usually the lowest ranking non-commissioned officer. In some militaries, the rank of corporal nominally corr ...

Later life and death

He returned to Louisiana after the war and worked as an air conditioner repairman and in the lumber industry. He was married to Gladys Bowman-Shelton until his death and they had two sons, Allen and Floyd; the latter of which died before his father, in 1990. He and Sledge did not speak for over thirty-five years until he read Sledge's book and the two reunited. Shelton died on May 3, 1993, in Jackson, Louisiana. Sledge was not one of his

pallbearer A pallbearer is one of several participants who help carry the casket at a funeral. They may wear white gloves in order to prevent damaging the casket and to show respect to the deceased person. Some traditions distinguish between the roles o ...

s despite popular belief. He is buried at the Bowman-Dedon Cemetery, in West Feliciana Parish, Louisiana alongside his wife.

Awards

His decorations and medals include:

References