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| Lt. William Shanks served with the 30th Infantry Division in Normandy. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/48131797/william-page-shanks https://barbarawhitaker.wordpress.com/category/30th-infantry-division/page/2/ |
William Page Shanks never had a chance to reach 100 years old today. Instead, he sacrificed his life for our freedom.
He was born on February 28, 1919 in Texas. His parents Grover and Margaret were born in Tennessee and Missouri, respectively. His father worked as a farmer. William had a younger brother and sister. By 1940 William had completed one year of college at Texas A&M. When at home, he helped on the family farm. He married Ann Strban.
He enlisted in the army on March 5, 1942. He was accepted to Officer's Candidate School and became a first lieutenant in Company C, 1st Battalion, 120th Infantry Regiment, 30th Infantry Division.
The 30th Infantry Division arrived in Normandy five days after D-Day. By July 7 it had crossed the Vire River. Lt. Shanks was killed on July 16, 1944 as his company worked through the difficult Normandy hedgerows.
His grave is at Wesley Chapel Cemetery, in Crockett, Texas. His widow remarried and died in 2008.
Last year on this date I profiled multiple medal hero John Dowdy, 4th Infantry Division. You can read about John here.
On behalf of the fallen, if you would like to see more people become aware of this project to honor the WW2 fallen, be sure to share with others on Twitter, Facebook, etc. Thanks for your interest!
I created this video to explain why I started this project: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXt8QA481lY.
Please consider joining the public Facebook group to increase the exposure of this project. Go to: WW2 Fallen 100
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