RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, Lewis Pazoles served his country with distinction as a member of the United States Army during World War II; and
WHEREAS, The son of Greek immigrants, Lewis Pazoles was born in 1925 in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin where his father worked in a tannery and his mother was a home-maker; and
WHEREAS, Lewis Pazoles was drafted into the Army at 18 years old and in 1944 was assigned to a medical battalion attached to the 83rd infantry, called the Thunderbolt Division, and shipped out in a convoy to England to prepare for the Normandy invasion; and
WHEREAS, Lewis Pazoles landed on Omaha Beach on June 11th 1944, five days after D-Day and his unit followed General George Patton's Army and participated in the Battle of the Bulge and advanced through central Europe toward Germany; and
WHEREAS, On April 11,1945, the 83rd encountered Langenstein, a sub camp of the Buchenwald concentration camp and liberated 1,100 prisoners who were found malnourished and in extremely poor physical condition; and
WHEREAS, The 83rd infantry reported to Allied headquarters that the death rate at the camp was 500 per month and American soldiers recovered Nazi documents at the camp that were later used by war crimes investigators; and
WHEREAS, Lewis Pazoles was honorably discharged from the United States Army on January 31,1946, at the age of 20; and
WHEREAS, Lewis Pazoles returned home to Chicago where he worked in his family's grocery store and became a partner in the business; and
WHEREAS, Lewis Pazoles is a recipient of the Victory Medal, the European African Middle Eastern Theater Ribbon with 1 Silver Battle Star, three Overseas Service Bars, the Good Conduct Metal, the Purple Heart Medal and the Bronze Star; and
WHEREAS, Lewis Pazoles and his wife Katherine are residents of Palos Hills; and
WHEREAS, Lewis Pazoles was honored at a special celebration held on the eve of Veteran's Day at Wintrust's Grand Banking Hall, 231 South La Salle Street, Chicago, Illinois; and
WHEREAS, Lewis Pazoles is truly an example of what journalist Tom Brokaw called "Our Greatest Generation;" and
WHEREAS, Lewis Pazoles is exceedingly worthy of our highest admiration and esteem; now, therefore
BE IT RESOLVED, That we, the Mayor and the members of the Chicago City Council, assembled this eighteenth day of November, 2015 do hereby express our sincere appreciation to Lewis Pazoles for his military service; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to Lewis Pazoles.
Alderman - 14th Ward