Memorial

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T/Sgt William C. Gallaher graduated from Braggadocio High School in 1932. In 1933 he joined the Civilian Conservation Corps. After being released from the CCC, he returned home but there were few jobs, so he moved to the Pontiac, Michigan area. He enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1940 while in Michigan. Fort Sheridan was his first station. He met and befriended Gene Stack, the first soldier on a major league baseball roster to die during WWII. He also served with future NFL Hall of Famer, Gino Marchetti while in Europe. Marchetti was in close proximity to Gallaher when he was killed in action.

All the assistance possible in the form of artillery fire was given to I Co, but as darkness fell, it became evident that the eastern portion of Colditz could not be cleared that night. Four men, including two Platoon Sergeants, T/Sgt Gallaher and T/Sgt Hadaway, had been killed, and eight men, including Lt Ryan, platoon leader, had been wounded (all from I Co).

In two letters received by the Gallaher family in 1949, two soldiers who were "eye witnesses" to the death of TSGT Gallaher had slightly different accounts to the cause of death. One soldier said he was hit by sniper fire, the other said Gallaher died from machine gun fire. Both soldiers wrote that Gallaher was leading his men away from heavy German fire. In conversations with Marchetti, he remembers both heavy machine gun and sniper fire.