FORT CARSON, Colo. (KOAA) — A new fitness center on Fort Carson is named after a World War I Medal of Honor recipient.
The man the center is named after received the award years after he passed away. The fitness center honors the memory and legacy of Sgt. William Shemin, a rifleman assigned to the 47th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division, in 1917, who was awarded the Medal of Honor for his bravery during combat operations at the Vesle River near Bazoches, France. The 66,000-square foot fitness center, located near the 4th Combat Aviation Brigade and the 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, offers three rubber sports courts, an indoor running track, group exercise rooms, classrooms, and space for Soldier-specific Physical Readiness Training, to include free wights, cardio equipment, and dedicated physical therapy and flexibility space.
News5 wanted to know more about the man the fitness center was named after.
According to the military, Sgt. Shemin was born in New Jersey in 1896 and played semi-pro baseball as a teen. He was a forester before World War I and enlisted in the Army in 1917. According to records read by his daughter in 2015, Shemin was part of a combat operation against an armed enemy on the Vesle River, near Bazoches, France from August 7 to August 9, 1918.
"Sgt. Shemin left cover and crossed open space, repeatedly exposing himself to heavy machine-gun and rifle fire, to rescue wounded," a synopsis by Army Productions reads. "After Officers and Senior Noncommissioned Officers had become casualties, Sgt. Shemin took command of the platoon and displayed great initiative under fire until wounded on August 9."
Shemin's daughter, Elsie Shemin-Roth, spoke to the public in 2015 when the Medal of Honor was awarded to Shemin posthumously. Elsie said her father rescued multiple people before taking over the platoon after his officers died. Elsie said Shemin led his platoon to safety and then returned to the battlefield where he was ultimately injured by machine gun fire. Sgt. Shemin was reportedly found unconscious on the battlefield after taking a machine gun bullet to his helmet. Sgt. Shemin was hospitalized for three months before returning to light duty.
For the injuries he sustained during combat, Shemin received the Purple Heart. He was also awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for battlefield valor, Dec. 29, 1919.
Shemin was honorably discharged in August 1919, and went on to get a degree from the New York State College of Forestry at Syracuse University. After graduation, he started a greenhouse and landscaping business in Bronx, New York, where he raised three children. Shemin died in 1973.
Elsie says it took her more than a decade to get his medal upgraded and believes her father didn't originally receive the top honor because he was discriminated against for being Jewish.
"Though my father always told me his war experience was never about medals, I knew in my heart he was deserving of the highest military award for valor, the medal of honor," Elsie said to the public in 2015.
The fitness center opened on February 21, 2025.
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