Rank: Sergeant
Unit: D Company, 1st Squadron, 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment
MOS: 11E – Armor Crewman
Awards: Bronze Star Medal with Valor Device, Purple Heart Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Vietnam Service Medal, Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal
Badges: Combat Infantryman Badge
Unit awards: Vietnamese Gallantry Cross with Palm device
Enlisted by: Regular
Date of birth: 22-Oct-1944
Hometown: Jackson, Ohio
Marital status: Married to Norma J. Sheline, one daughter
Campaign: Vietnam Conflict
Start of tour: 7-Jun-1968
Incident date: 18-Jul-1968
Date of casualty: 18-Jul-1968
Age at death: 23
Cause of death: Hostile, died. Explosive Device. Other explosive device.
Allen Curtis Sheline died from wound received while the commander of a military vehicle on a combat operation when the vehicle was hit by a rocket propelled grenade.
Four Blackhorse troopers died as a result of this incident:
SGT Richard Edward Daly Jr
PFC Raymond Conrad Hanik
SGT Allen Curtis Sheline
SP4 Kurt Eugene Ward
Location of fatality: Binh Thuy, South Vietnam
Place of interment: Fairmount Cemetery, Jackson, Ohio, USA
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BRONZE STAR MEDAL
WITH VALOR DEVICE
POSTHUMOUS
SPECIALIST FIVE ALLEN CURTIS SHELINE
18 JULY 1968
D COMPANY, 1st SQUADRON
11TH ARMORED CAVALRY REGIMENT
Specialist Five Sheline distinguished himself by heroism in connection with military operations against a hostile force on 18 July 1968 while serving with Company D, 1st Squadron, 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment, in the Republic of Vietnam. On this date, Specialist Sheline was participating in a reconnaissance in force mission when his tank company made contact with an estimated North Vietnamese Army company in a rubber tree forest. During the fierce firefight which followed, the friendly force became greatly endangered by a number of enemy rocket teams in the immediate area. Specialist Sheline, who was acting as rear deck gunner on his tank, observed two enemy rocket teams sighting in on a friendly vehicle. Totally disregarding his personal safety, Specialist Sheline repeatedly exposed himself to the full fury of the enemy small arms and automatic weapons fire in order to eliminate the hostile antitank teams. Immediately thereafter, Specialist Sheline was mortally wounded by fragments from an exploding enemy rocket. Specialist Five Sheline’s unwavering devotion to duty and heroic action while under hostile fire were in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit upon himself, his unit and the United States Army.
Headquarters, II Field Force Vietnam General Orders No. 897 (9 August 1968)