Charles E. Kelly (soldier)
Charles E. Kelly (September 23, 1920 – January 11, 1985) was a United States Army soldier and a Medal of Honor recipient for his actions in World War II.
Born in Pittsburgh, Kelly had run-ins with the law as a youth before joining the Army in 1942. By September 13, 1943, he was a corporal with Company L, 143rd Infantry Regiment, 36th Infantry Division. Near Altavilla, Italy, he volunteered for patrols that found enemy machine guns. He helped locate Hill 315 and then defended a storehouse against German attacks, staying behind to hold the position while his unit withdrew.
The next morning he continued fighting from the storehouse window, firing until his weapons overheated and jammed. He used 60mm mortar shells as grenades to kill several attackers. When his detachment needed to evacuate, he stayed to cover the withdrawal and later helped bring in a rocket launcher to support the move. For these brave actions, he received the Medal of Honor on February 18, 1944.
After the war, Kelly helped promote war bonds, then served at Fort Benning and left the Army in 1945 as a technical sergeant.
Kelly faced personal hardships, including a failed business and the loss of his wife Mae to cancer in 1951. He also helped his younger brother Danny enlist in the Army, but Danny went missing in Korea after he joined under Charles’s influence. Kelly remarried Betty Gaskin in 1952 and lived in Louisville, Kentucky. He struggled with health and alcohol problems and was divorced in 1962.
In later years, Kelly suffered kidney and liver failure and died in Pittsburgh in 1985. He is buried in Highwood Cemetery.
His legacy includes efforts to help others stop drinking through Alcoholics Anonymous meetings in Pittsburgh. In 1987, a Pittsburgh Army facility was renamed the Charles E. Kelly Support Facility, and in 2024 Shawano Street in Pittsburgh was named Honorary Commando Kelly Way.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 03:44 (CET).