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| Lt. Daniel Bradshaw, shown with bride Elsie, served with the 44th Infantry Division in France and Germany. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/63600031/daniel-walters-bradshaw https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/90906519/elsie-mckay-urie https://www.pinterest.com/pin/531987774705976264/?lp=true |
Daniel Walters Bradshaw, Jr. never had a chance to reach 100 years old today. Instead, he sacrificed his life for our freedom.
He was born on May 4, 1918 in Utah. His parents Daniel Sr. and Irene were born in Utah and North Carolina, respectively. His father worked as a farmer and, after moving to Wyoming, as an oil field pumper. The family moved back to Utah by 1940 and Daniel Sr. worked as a noxious weeds spray operator. Daniel had three younger sisters. Daniel was an Eagle Scout and completed three years of college at Weber College and Utah State Agriculture College (now Utah State University).
He enlisted in the army on June 18, 1941. After completing basic training he was recommended for officers training and was commissioned as a second lieutenant. I was not able to determine which unit he was with for the first part of the war but he eventually became a first lieutenant in Company M, 3rd Battalion, 114th Infantry Regiment, 44th Infantry Division.
While on leave in Utah he married Elsie McKay on May 12, 1944 (She was probably a cousin to David O. McKay, who performed their marriage, and who would become the president of the LDS Church in 1951.)
The 44th ID was sent to Europe in September 1944. It joined the 7th Army's engagement with the enemy in the Vosges Mountains one month later. After five months of combat it crossed the Rhine near Worms in March 1945. By April the 44th ID was advancing into Germany against continued resistance. The 44th ID was assigned to take the city of Ehingen. The battle took six days. Lt. Bradshaw was killed on April 22, 1945 the day before the city was secured.
His grave is at Ogden City Cemetery in Utah. His widow remarried and died in 2003.
This stories is also told at https://www.fold3.com/page/638677126-daniel-w-bradshaw/stories
Last year on this date I profiled Navy Cross pilot William Wileman. As of this writing, it is one of the 10 most read profiles I have done. You can read about William 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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