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The Stamford Historical Society PresentsPride and Patriotism: Stamford’s Role in World War II
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 USS Williamsburg |
Tom was in the Navy. He joined in 1941. He served on the USS Williamsburg in the North Atlantic in 1942 and 1943 in Iceland and Northern Ireland. He took PT Boat Training in early 1943 in Melville, Rhode Island. The photos that I sent you are probably from this time, when he was on leave and sped down from Rhode Island to Connecticut to visit his sister and his future wife and his future best man, Vito Melfi.
After PT Boat Training, Tom served in the South Pacific in Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron 8 in New Guinea and the Philippines, including the Battle of Leyte Gulf. During his time in the service, he was an electrician, or “fireman”. He left the Navy with the rank of Chief Petty Officer.
My father never spoke of the war when I was a child. He was your typical WWII veteran. He did have a few scars on his body. My father’s three scars were nothing compared to our neighbor across the street on Knickerbocker Avenue. Mr. Mace was a handsome man and you would never suspect it. But when it was a hot summer day, he would go out and mow his lawn without his shirt. His entire trunk was one big horrific scar from his war experiences. He never spoke of it. Of course, the neighborhood kids would also never ask him about it. I was told by other adults – of course not in detail but only “It was the war” – why the skin on his stomach, chest and back was so damaged.
Back to Tom Hanley: after leaving the service, Tom continued his calling as an electrician – his father, Thomas Hanley Sr. was also an electrician. He was a union man but I do not recall the number of his Local Union in Stamford. Two of my brothers would know, as they became electricians as well. Tom was also prominent in local Stamford sports activities. In the 50s and 60s, he was a Little League and Babe Ruth League coach and manager of numerous teams. In 1960 (may have been 1961), he was the District Commissioner for Little League Baseball in Connecticut. Through my father I actually met Jackie Robinson and Andy Robustelli. Tom was also a longtime member of the Springdale Volunteer Fire Company, rising to the rank of Lieutenant. Although all of this happened so long ago, I am certain that there are many Stamford citizens left that will remember him.
Claire Doyle
Claire was a WAVE (Women Accepted for Voluntary Emergency Service) in the Navy. She joined in 1943. She was trained at the Hunter College Campus in the Bronx as a Medical Technician. She spent most of WWII stationed in California but at the end of the war was transferred to Honolulu, Hawaii helping American P.O.W.s in Hawaii.
As related by her cousin, Dan Hanley:
Claire Doyle Finn was born in 1922 in Andover, Mass. She spent her childhood in Lawrence, Mass. She died April 18, 1997 in Maine. Claire was Thomas J. Hanley, J.r’s first cousin.
Claire was a WAVE (Women Accepted for Voluntary Emergency Service) in the Navy. She joined in 1943. She was trained at Hunter College Campus in the Bronx as a Medical Technician. She spent most of WWII stationed in California.
At the end of the war, she was stationed in Honolulu, Hawaii, helping to tend to American POW’s after their return from Japanese held territory. The U.S. Military insisted on keeping the former POWs in Hawaii for month,s so they could recover and look somewhat presentable upon their return to the States. Most of them had been starved and beaten.
Claire was recalled to duty in 1950 during the Korean War. After that conflict ended she worked as a laboratory technician. She married William Finn of Boston in 1954. Claire and Bill remained married until her death in 1997.
Photos taken on Webbs Hill at Tom’s sister’s (Theresa Hanley Blundell) house in Stamford.
Photos Courtesy Dan Hanley
The Hanley Family as related to us by Dan Hanley Spring 2006
Katherine Hanley
Katherine Hanley was born in Providence, Rhode Island on February 2, 1888. She died in Florida in 1978. She was Claire Doyle’s and Thomas Hanley’s aunt. She also bore the responsibility of raising Thomas Hanley after his mother died giving birth to him. There is not enough I can say about my Great-Aunt Kate. I knew her well when I was a child. She lived with us on Knickerbocker Avenue. Many do not recognize how some women sacrificed their lives to look after the their male sibling’s children. The men had to work to put food on the table, clothes on the back and a roof over the head. Of course, my father always treated her as his mother and made certain that she was taken care of in her elderly years. It was simply the right thing to do in those days.
Catherine Brennan McVey Hanley
Catherine was born November 12, 1921 in Brooklyn, New York. She married Tom Hanley in June of 1945. Catherine and Tom had 5 children (4 sons and 1 daughter) and were married until Tom’s death in 1964. Catherine continued to raise her children without her husband, but with the help of many friends and relatives of the family. She worked in the Assessor’s Office in Stamford until her retirement in the 1980’s. In 1976, she married Truman Smith, another WWII Navy Veteran (European theatre) and Stamfordite. They remain married and, after living in Florida for 20 years, now live in assisted living in Ayer, Mass. close to Catherine’s daughter.
Eileen Blundell
Eileen Blundell is the niece of Thomas Hanley. She was born circa 1940 and lives in Florida. She is the daughter of Theresa Hanley Blundell. Theresa was my father’s sister.
The Dog in the Background
Absolutely no idea!
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