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Contact Info
Home Town La Crosse, IN
Last Address Porter Hospital, Valparaiso Campus, Porter, Indiana. Burial: Oak Grove Cemetery at La Crosse, La Porte County, Indiana.
Date of Passing Feb 18, 2005
Location of Interment Oak Grove Cemetery - LaCrosse, Indiana
Mr. Rowley J. Sheely, 81, of LaCrosse, Indiana, died Friday, Feb. 18, 2005, at Porter Hospital, Valparaiso Campus.
He was born Feb. 2, 1924, in LaCrosse to Noah and Maudie (James) Sheely.
Mr. Sheely was a farmer. He was a member of United Methodist Church of LaCrosse, F&AM 438 Masonic Lodge of North Judson, Orak Shrine of Michigan City and VFW of LaPorte. He was a 1943 graduate of LaCrosse High School and was a U.S. Navy veteran of World War II. He served as a Radarman on-board the USS Izard DD-589 from the ship's commissioning in May 1943 until it was decommissioned in May 1946, a total of 36 months.
On Feb. 2, 1946, in LaPorte, he married Jeanette Lesser, who died in 1998.
Also preceding him in death were his parents; one daughter, Laura; one son, John; and one brother, Forrest.
Other Comments:
Mr. Sheely served in the Asiatic Pacific Theater on-board the USS Izard which was awarded 10 battle stars, during 12 major battles. Among some of them were Saipan, Kwajalein, Lingayen, Gulf and Iwo Jima. He wears the Victory medal, Good Conduct medal, Asiatic Pacific with 10 stars, Philippine Liberation with 2 stars, and the American area medal.
Marshall Islands Operation (1944)/Battle of Kwajalein Atoll (Operation Flintlock)
From Month/Year
January / 1944
To Month/Year
February / 1944
Description The Battle of Kwajalein was fought as part of the Pacific campaign of World War II. It took place from 31 January-3 February 1944, on Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands. Employing the hard-learned lessons of the battle of Tarawa, the United States launched a successful twin assault on the main islands of Kwajalein in the south and Roi-Namur in the north. The Japanese defenders put up stiff resistance, although outnumbered and under-prepared. The determined defense of Roi-Namur left only 51 survivors of an original garrison of 3,500.
For the US, the battle represented both the next step in its island-hopping march to Japan and a significant moral victory because it was the first time the Americans had penetrated the "outer ring" of the Japanese Pacific sphere. For the Japanese, the battle represented the failure of the beach-line defense. Japanese defenses became prepared in depth, and the battles of Peleliu, Guam, and the Marianas proved far more costly to the US.
My Participation in This Battle or Operation
From Month/Year
January / 1944
To Month/Year
February / 1944
Last Updated: Mar 16, 2020
Personal Memories
Memories Mr. Sheely served in the Asiatic Pacific Theater on-board the USS Izard which was awarded 10 battle stars, during 12 major battles. Among some of them were Saipan, Kwajalein, Lingayen, Gulf and Iwo Jima. He wears the Victory medal, Good Conduct medal, Asiatic Pacific with 10 stars, Philippine Liberation with 2 stars, and the American area medal.
