Corporal Shaw was a member of Battery B, 57th Field Artillery Battalion, 7th Infantry Division. On 6 December 1950, his unit and the survivors of the 31st Infantry Regiment took defensive positions near the town of Hagaru-ri, North Korea. The onslaught of the Chinese forces was overpowering and Corporal Shaw was listed as Missing in Action. He was presumed dead on 31 December 1953. His remains were not recovered. His name is inscribed on the Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial.

Shaw was awarded the Purple Heart, the Korean Service Medal, the United Nations Service Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Korean Presidential Unit Citation and the Republic of Korea War Service Medal.