WHEREAS, William Casady of Chesapeake, a distinguished veteran who defended the nation through two wars, serving aboard 10 United States Navy ships over more than two decades, celebrates his 100th birthday in 2018; and

WHEREAS, a native of Pierce, Washington, William "Mickey" Casady was born on May 3, 1918, and joined the United States Navy in 1937 after he graduated from high school; and

WHEREAS, for the first six years of his military career, Mickey Casady was assigned to the USS Ranger (CV-4), the United States Navy's first purpose-built aircraft carrier, which hunted Nazi submarines in the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean; and

WHEREAS, in 1943, having earned his electrician's mate rating, Mickey Casady was assigned to the famed battleship USS Iowa (BB-61) as part of its commissioning crew; and

WHEREAS, Mickey Casady became a plankholder of the USS Basilan (AG-68) in 1944, and he was serving aboard the USS Hopewell (DD-681) in the Pacific Ocean at the end of World War II; and

WHEREAS, Mickey Casady served aboard the USS Appalachian (AGC-1) near Bikini Atoll during the testing of the atomic bomb in 1946, then was assigned to the USS Valley Forge (CV-45) at the outset of the Korean War; and

WHEREAS, after completing his service in combat, Mickey Casady relished opportunities to teach and mentor young sailors as an interior communications instructor until his well-earned retirement from the United States Navy on May 1, 1959, as an interior communications electrician chief; and

WHEREAS, in civilian life, Mickey Casady settled in the Commonwealth and worked as a mechanic in local shipyards before becoming an aircraft electrician mechanic instructor at Naval Air Station Norfolk; and

WHEREAS, the oldest living plankholder and crew member of the USS Iowa, Mickey Casady has been an active member of the USS Iowa Veterans Association and has attended many reunions and events aboard the ship, which is anchored in the Port of Los Angeles; and

WHEREAS, in 2015, Mickey Casady joined Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 2894 in Chesapeake to better serve and support his fellow veterans and members of the community in his hometown; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, That William Casady hereby be commended for his contributions to the Commonwealth and the United States on the occasion of his 100th birthday; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to William Casady as an expression of the House of Delegates' admiration for his lifetime of service to the citizens of Virginia and the United States.