RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, Captain William Thomas Shanley was born on August 31,1922 on North Sheffield Avenue in Chicago, Illinois; and,
WHEREAS, William Shanley graduated from High School at DePaul Academy in June 1940. In September 1940, he enlisted in the 1st Squadron ofthe 106th Cavalry Regiment located on East Chicago Avenue; and,
WHEREAS, In January 1943, William Shanley was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant and reported to the 82nd Engineer Combat Battalion at Camp Swift Texas; and,
WHEREAS, In early June, 1944 the Battalion was alerted to move to a Seaport and subsequent travel to the Coast of France. C Company was ordered to board the troop ship on D-Day + 3 and sailed to a point about one mile off Omaha Beach; and,
WHEREAS, After landing on Omaha Beach, the Battalion gathered and was involved in the sweeping of mines in the roads and fields in Normandy, France; and,
WHEREAS, On August 15th, 1944 William Shanley and two members of his team were checking on bridges near Mortain, France when their jeep drove over a German Teller Mine; and,
WHEREAS, William Shanley was airlifted from the Field Hospital in France to an Army General Hospital in Southern England and eventually returned home to the United States; and,
WHEREAS, After three months in the rehabilitation hospital William went in front of the Army Retirement Board and was granted Disability Retirement with the Rank of Captain; and,
WHEREAS, Captain William Shanley received the Purple Heart and the Chevalier de Legion d'honneur, the highest order of merit for military & civilian merits awarded by the French Government; and,
WHEREAS, Captain Shanley passed away on November 4th, 2013 in his 92nd year; and,
WHEREAS, In July 2018, a family that lives near Mortain France informed the children of William Shanley that they found Captain Shanley's canteen in an old farmhouse near where the jeep drove over the mine; and,
WHEREAS, This June, the children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren of William Shanley traveled...
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