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VFW display honors hero featured in “Pork Chop Hill”

A new display at the VFW in Hendersonville honors Korean and Vietnam war hero Col. Joseph Clemons. Pictured left to right are: Jim Gough with Military Officers Association of America; Sue Shultis, daughter of Col. Clemons; Pam Erwin with VFW Post 5206 Auxiliary and Bob Johnson, commander of VFW Post 5206.

By Lightning Reports, Published: June 4, 2026

A new display at the VFW in Hendersonville honors the Korean and Vietnam War hero portrayed in the 1959 film “Pork Chop Hill.”

Col. Joseph Clemons, who was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross and the Silver Star for his service in Korea, lived in Hendersonville for two decades before his death in 2018.
The Western NC Military Officers Association of America and Hedrick-Rhodes VFW Post 5206 Auxiliary joined Hedrick-Rhodes VFW Post 5206 to honor Clemons at the post home at 900 N. Main Street, according to a press release from the VFW.
A display outside the VFW’s office in the building includes the sweater Clemons wore during the Korean War. The jungle fatigues he wore during the Vietnam War are adorned with medals he received during those wars. Next to the display case, a poster adds more detail on Clemons’ s life as well as a QR code that links to Clemons’ shadowbox on the VFW Wall of Honor, also located in the building.
Clemons’s daughter, Sue Shultis, provided the two uniforms as well as other information and artifacts used to honor her father's extraordinary life.
Actor Gregory Peck played Clemons in “Pork Chop Hill” after renowned military historian S.L.A. Marshall wrote about the famous battle at the end of the Korean War.
Marshall’s writings became a book and then a screenplay that Peck bought so that he could produce the movie, casting himself in the lead role.
When the movie was made, the Army assigned Clemons to be a technical advisor to Peck, showing him how to hold and shoot a rifle, throw a hand grenade and behave like a rifle company commander.
After his service in Korea, Clemons, who was a 1951 graduate of West Point, served as a brigade commander in the 23rd Infantry Division during the Vietnam War.
While in command, future Four-Star General Norman Schwartzkopf, then a lieutenant colonel, was one of Clemons’ battalion commanders. One day a general visited Schwarzkopf in the field and complained about how Schwarzkopf was employing his battalion, threatening to relieve him of command. Clemons interceded and saved Schwarzkopf’s career but bore the brunt of the general’s anger.
Schwarzkopf continued his career which culminated with him as commander of Desert Storm in 1991. Schwarzkopf wrote the 1992 best-selling book, “It Doesn’t Take a Hero,” about his life story and talks about what a great leader Clemons was, even at the cost of his career to stand up for a subordinate.
In its press release, the VFW said among the many purposes of veterans’ organizations like the VFW and the Auxiliary and the Military Officers Association of America, one is to honor local veterans like Col. Joseph Clemons, a true American hero.
For more information about the local VFW’s Wall of Honor, visit https://www.hendersoncountync.gov/veteransservices/page/henderson-county-wall-honor