2012 Inductee Brigadier General Austin Conner Shofner
Born March 3, 1916 and raised in his ancestral home of Bedford County, Tennessee, Austin C. Shofner forever changed World War II.
After playing football under Gen. Neyland and wrestling at the University of Tennessee, Shofner graduated in 1937 and promptly joined the U.S. Marine Corps where, before World War II, he coached and played for the undefeated San Diego Marine football team.
In 1941, Shofner fought in defense of the Philippines, surrendered at Corregidor, and then endured 11 months in Japanese prisoners-of-war camps. On April 4, 1943, however, Shofner led the only successful escape party from a Japanese prison camp. After their escape, Shofner and his men remained in the Philippines for six months fighting with guerilla forces against the Japanese. These men then returned to the United States and revealed there for the first time to American citizens the atrocities being committed by the Japanese, including the Bataan Death March and the brutal starvation, torture and death in POW camps.
Once Shofner and his compatriots brought home stark evidence of Japanese atrocities, the American public reacted in horror and outrage. Thereafter, the Allies altered their strategy in World War II by fighting in the Pacific with similar strength and commitment as in Europe and thereby shortened the war, saving thousands of lives.
In 1944, Shofner volunteered to return to the Pacific and there assisted the U.S. Army in its remarkable rescue of over 500 POW’s slated for death in the notorious Cabanuatuan prison camp. Shofner also commanded Marine battalions in the battles for Peleliu and Okinawa and, by war’s end, had more active duty than any other Marine officer.
For his service, Shofner was awarded numerous campaign and service medals, including the Army’s Distinguished Service Cross, the Legion of Merit with V for valor, two bronze stars, and two Purple Hearts.
In 1959, Shofner retired from the Marine Corps as a Brigadier General and returned home to Bedford County, Tennessee. He died November 14, 1999 and is buried in a churchyard next to his ancestral farm in Bedford County.