William Lee Treadway Jr.was the son of Brownlow “Brown” Tredway and Minnie Ethel Smith.

He was a passenger on the U.S.S. Tarazed (AF13) on 17 July 1942 departing from Norfolk, Virginia. He was reported missing in action in ,

On the night of 11 March 1944, Lt Childs, the pilot of a PBY-5 Catalina, with a crew of nine men, took off from northern Australia on a nighttime search-and-attack mission against enemy targets in the Bismarck Sea and along the northern coast of New Guinea. The PBY made a glide-bombing attack on two Japanese enemy ships in Humboldt Bay, near Hollandia, New Guinea, but was shot down by the ships. Search efforts were dispatched when the Catalina failed to return, but they were unable to locate the downed aircraft or its crew.

Catalina BuNo #08522 Crew;
Childs, Russell M, LTJG, 112646
Coke, Marshall D, Jr, AMM3, 6173630,
Davis, George F, AOM3, 2959947
Desh, William, ARM2, 6117195
McNeil, Ragsdale, LTJG, 145598
Mihalik, John, AOM3, 6531919
Shields, Kenneth P, AMM2, 6323913
Thornton, John C, ENSIGN, 251076
Treadway, William L, Jr, ARM2, 6583854

They were officially declared dead on 16 January 1946. Memorialized at Manila American Cemetery, Philippines

The Elizabethton Dailly Star, February 19, 1946
Chief Petty Officer, William Lee Treadway, Jr., Aviation Radioman 2/c, has been declared officially dead said a letter to his mother, Mrs. Minnie treadway, of route 1, which she received from James Forrestal, Secretary of the Navy, on February 2, 1946. Chief Treadway enlisted 2 days before Pearl Harbor, on December 5, 1941 and was reported missing on March 22, 1944, when he did not return from a unit patrol mission. He had been on combat missions from Australian bases and also in the Hollandia, New Guinea area. His group was credited with destroying two armed vessels in Himboldt Bay. He completed his high school work at Norfolk, Va. Another who was declared dead was his friend John Midilik, son of Mr. and Mrs. John J. Mikalik of Aliquippa, Pa., who did not return from the same mission with Treadway. Mrs. Treadway had two other sons in service, Cpl. Robert James Treadway who was drafted in September 1942, and is in England with a medical unit. And Cpl. Joseph Paul Treadway who was drafted on January 5, 1943 and served 31 months in the Pacific area. He received his discharge on December 23.

  • Rank: Aviation Radioman 2nd Class
  • Date of birth:
  • 26 May 1918
  • Date of death: 11 March 1944
  • County: Carter
  • Hometown: Elizabethton
  • Service Branch: Navy
  • Division/Assignment: USS Tarazed (AF13)
  • Theater: Pacific
  • Conflict: World War II
  • Burial/Memorial Location: Manila American Cemetery, Manila, Philippines
  • Location In Memorial: Pillar VII, Bottom Panel
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