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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.
World War II/Asiatic-Pacific Theater/Luzon Campaign (1944-45)
From Month/Year
December / 1944
To Month/Year
April / 1945
Description On December 15, 1944, landings against minimal resistance were made on the southern beaches of the island of Mindoro, a key location in the planned Lingayen Gulf operations, in support of major landings scheduled on Luzon. On January 9, 1945, on the south shore of Lingayen Gulf on the western coast of Luzon, General Krueger's Sixth Army landed his first units. Almost 175,000 men followed across the twenty-mile (32 km) beachhead within a few days. With heavy air support, Army units pushed inland, taking Clark Field, 40 miles (64 km) northwest of Manila, in the last week of January.
Two more major landings followed, one to cut off the Bataan Peninsula, and another, that included a parachute drop, south of Manila. Pincers closed on the city and, on February 3, 1945, elements of the U.S. 1st Cavalry Division pushed into the northern outskirts of Manila and the 8th Cavalry Regiment (organized as infantry) passed through the northern suburbs and into the city itself.
As the advance on Manila continued from the north and the south, the Bataan Peninsula was rapidly secured. On February 16, paratroopers and amphibious units simultaneously assaulted the islet of Corregidor. It was necessary to take this stronghold because troops there can block the entrance of Manila Bay. The Americans needed to establish a major harbor base at Manila Bay to support the expected invasion of Japan, planned to begin on November 1, 1945. Resistance on Corregidor ended on February 27, and then all resistance by the Japanese Empire ceased on August 15, 1945, obviating the need for an invasion of the Japanese Home Islands.
Despite initial optimism, fighting in Manila was harsh. It took until March 3 to clear the city of all Japanese troops, and the Japanese Marines, who fought on stubbornly and refused to either surrender or to evacuate as the Japanese Army had done. Fort Drum, a fortified island in Manila Bay near Corregidor, held out until 13 April, when a team of Army troops went ashore and pumped 3,000 gallons of diesel fuel into the fort, then set off incendiary charges. No Japanese soldiers in Fort Drum survived the blast and fire.
In all, ten U.S. divisions and five independent regiments battled on Luzon, making it the largest American campaign of the Pacific war, involving more troops than the United States had used in North Africa, Italy, or southern France.
My Participation in This Battle or Operation
From Month/Year
January / 1945
To Month/Year
April / 1945
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.
