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Mortar box of WWII vet buried in Ionia found; search on for family members

Sentinel-Standard - 4/5/2019

April 04-- Apr. 4--BELDING -- A father and son in Belding are looking for a proper home for the mortar box of Col. Thomas Stanley, who lost his life serving in World War II and is buried in Ionia.

David Badder said his son, Brady Badder, found the box among some wooden crates in David's mother's house in Ionia.

"I was over with my son a couple days ago," David said. "My mom told Brady, 'Go ahead and check the basement to see if there's anything you want.' He found these three wooden crates. You could tell they were pretty old. He got them home and noticed writing on one of the crates."

David said from there, he and his son went to the Belding VFW post to see if the crate was military-related. The post confirmed it is a World War II mortar box.

"They said it's common, if he was killed in action, they used this box to send his belongings home to loved ones," David said. "Or, if he wasn't killed in action, it's possible he just had some extra stuff he wanted to send home."

After learning the crate's possible origins, Brady began to research Col. Stanley and found that he served an important role in the war.

"He went in as an engineer," David said. "He engineered a floating bridge that they used in Europe in World War II. It seems like he was a bit of a war hero."

David said he and his son just want to make sure the item gets to a family member.

"I'm sure the military sent this home to his family," he said. "(Brady) saw that and thought maybe there's somebody that this would be quite a keepsake for. He's a veteran himself, he understands the importance that this might be. We just want to make sure it gets into the right hands of somebody who would appreciate it."

According to a post on the West Point Association of Graduates website, Stanley was born in Texas in 1899 and enrolled at West Point in April of 1918. He graduated in 1920.

Stanley received a degree in civil engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic University in 1922.

The website states that from 1924-1928, Stanley was an assistant professor of military science and tactics at the Missouri School of Mines and then at the University of Iowa. He married fellow faculty member Olive Louise Normington, of Ionia, on July 2, 1927.

Normington returned to Ionia in 1943 when Stanley went overseas, and died in Ionia in 1954, the site says. She is entombed with Stanley at Highland Park Cemetery in Ionia. The couple had no children.

The website mentions Stanley as the force behind the creation of the treadway bridge.

"During the assignment at Fort Knox, Tom was the originator and principal developer of the Treadway Bridge, which was used extensively in Europe in World War II," the site reads. "At that time, the floating ponton bridge equipment in use was inadequate for the newly developed tanks.

From August 1941 to May 1942, Stanley commanded the 16th Armored Engineer Battalion of the 1st Armored Division at Fort Knox, Kentucky. In December 1943, he was assigned to command the 36th Engineer Combat Regiment.

The West Point AOG website says Stanley was killed when his jeep flipped while driving to inspect bridges in the early morning of June 11, 1944, in Civitavecchia, Italy, after heavy rains brought a threat of flooding in the area.

"Tom had been decorated with the Legion of Merit with an oak leaf cluster, the Bronze Star Medal, the Purple Heart, and posthumously another Purple Heart, and the Honorary Officer of the Military Division of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire," the site reads.

Anyone with information on family members of Col. Thomas Henry Stanley can reach David Badder at 616-902-0892 or Brady Badder at 616-821-3028.

-- Contact reporter Mitchell Boatman at mboatman@sentinel-standard.com. Follow him on Twitter @IoniaSS_Mitch.

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