Honoring Veterans: Air Force Veteran Shelton Ware

Shelton Ware was born in January 1923 in Neptune, New Jersey, to parents Shelton Ralph Ware and Zenobia Kelley Ware. He was one of five children and spent the majority of his life in New Jersey, where he attended public school, including Monmouth Junior College (now Monmouth University).

Ware’s life took a significant turn in 1942. Although college had given him a viable reason to bypass the draft, he didn’t avoid the option to serve altogether. On April 1, 1942, he joined the Army Enlisted Reserve Corps and then reported for active duty in 1943.

In November 1943, Ware was assigned to the 3420th Ordnance Medium Automotive Maintenance Company in England. “My specialty was small arms,” Ware said, in a CSPAN interview. “Give me anything from a .22 to a .75 mm Howitzer, and I can do a job on it.”

Ware made history serving as a weapons and vehicle maintenance technician. He served in a unit that became known as the Red Ball Express, named for the red balls that marked its routes and trucks. He served during a period when the military was segregated; the vast majority of his unit were African Americans. Their mission required delivering a multitude of essential supplies to France during World War II, including rations, gasoline and ammunition.

“We fought two wars,” Ware said. “You had to fight the war of segregation, and you also had to do your duty as far as the enemy was concerned. Keep them from killing you and the rest of your buddies.”

Ware was also stationed in Luxembourg, Belgium and Germany throughout his 26 months of service, and had fought at the Battle of Normandy and the Battle of Northern France. He left the service in 1946.

Following his service, Ware re-acclimated to civilian life and finished his education at Howard University, where he graduated with honors. While at Howard, he concurrently enrolled with the Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps program (AFROTC), and upon graduation was commissioned as a second Lieutenant in June 1948.

On July 13, 1948, Ware and five of his classmates reported to the 332nd Fighter Wing at Lockbourne Army Base, in Ohio. He later served three years as Director of Training at Wiesbaden Air Base, Germany. And in the early 1960s, he served three years with the Tuskegee Institute AFROTC program in Alabama.

Ware then returned to the Washington, D.C. area, where he worked as an AFROTC Professor of Aerospace studies at his alma mater from 1969 to 1972. In September 1974, he officially retired from the USAF with thirty years of military service.

In retirement, Ware continued his civilian education and earned a Masters of Business Administration (MBA) from Howard University in 1981, along with a Master of Public Administration (MPA) and a Doctorate of Public Administration (DPA) from the University of Southern California in 1995. He was happily married to Vivian A. (Lindsay) Ware for 46 years until her death in 1994.

Ware died in September 2024 at the age of 101.

We honor his service.

Nominate a Veteran for Honoring Veterans

Do you want to light up the face of a special Veteran? Have you been wondering how to tell your Veteran they are special to you? VA’s Honoring Veterans social media feature is an opportunity to highlight your Veteran and his/her service.

It’s easy to nominate a Veteran. All it takes is an email to newmedia@va.gov with as much information as you can put together, along with some good photos. Visit our blog post about nominating to learn how to create the best submission.

Writer: Rachel Martin

Editors: Savanna Pierce, Tayler Rairigh

Graphic Designer: Kiki Kelley

Portrait courtesy of Chris Smith Photography, via East Coast Chapter Tuskegee Airmen, Inc.