Eli Lamar Whiteley was born on December 10, 1913, in Florence, Williamson County, Texas. He was the son of Eli Whiteley and Ruth Hunt Whiteley. He was married to Anna Morris Saunders Whiteley. He worked various jobs before enrolling at Texas Agricultural and Mechanical University, where he earned a degree in agriculture in 1941. Drafted into the Army in 1942 and served as a First Lieutenant in Company L, 15th Infantry, 3rd Infantry Division, and deployed to Europe in 1944 during World War II.

On December 27, 1944, during brutal house-to-house combat in Sigolsheim, France, 1Lt Whiteley led his platoon through intense enemy fire, personally killing 9 German soldiers and capturing 23 despite being severely wounded multiple times. With one arm disabled and one eye injured, he continued leading assaults, including blasting through a fortified house with a bazooka and subduing defenders single-handedly, ultimately breaking a key point of enemy resistance before being forcibly evacuated.

After the war, Whiteley recovered from his injuries, including the loss of an eye, and pursued an academic career. He taught agronomy at Texas Agricultural and Mechanical University, earned a master’s and Ph.D., conducted agricultural research, and served in leadership roles in several professional and veterans' organizations. He died on December 2, 1986, and is now buried in the College Station Cemetery, College Station, Brazos County, Texas, USA.

Source of information: www.tshaonline.org, standwheretheyfought.jimdofree.com