Ex-Joint Chiefs chair still in serious condition

Shelton, shown in a 1999 photo, retired last September as Joint Chiefs chairman.

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Retired Gen. Henry "Hugh" Shelton, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, remained in serious condition at a Washington hospital Thursday, five days after injuring his spinal cord in a household accident.

Shelton, 60, has been at Walter Reed Army Medical Center since falling Saturday from a ladder at his Fairfax, Virginia, home. He suffered partial paralysis and initially could not move his arms or legs, Pentagon sources said.

Citing "gradual improvement," the hospital previously said it expected Shelton would be moved out of the intensive care unit on Wednesday. But the former general was still in the ICU a day later.

Shelton "is making some improvement in his right leg and both arms and hands, where he was experiencing weakness," his doctor said Thursday in a statement.

The former general is able to breathe and talk without difficulty, the statement said.

RESOURCES On the scene: Dr. Sanjay Gupta on Shelton's prognosis

The hospital has said that patients with the injuries Shelton suffered usually improve over time.

Shelton completed a four-year term as Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman on September 30, 2001. He previously was chief of the U.S. Special Operations Command.

He led the Haitian intervention in 1994-95 and was assistant division commander for operations of the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) during the Persian Gulf War in 1991.

Shelton's other commands have included the 82nd Airborne Division and the 18th Airborne Corps. He served two tours in Vietnam, first with the 5th Special Forces Group and then with the 173rd Airborne Brigade.

The Tarboro, North Carolina, native has received the Defense Distinguished Service Medal, Distinguished Service Medal, Legion of Merit, a Bronze Star and the Purple Heart.