- Reported extensively for CBS radio during World War II. At the time of his death, recordings of his wartime broadcasts were still being used in journalism schools.
- Children from first marriage: sons Willard Jr. (died 1993) and Gerald. Children from second marriage: sons David and Douglas.
- Radio and TV news reporter.
- Moderator of the third debate between presidential candidates John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon in 1960.
- After WWII, he worked as a reporter at WTOP-TV in Washington, when Walter Cronkite was the local news anchorman.
- He was an anchor on the ABC evening news before he retired to become a professor at the University of Washington.
- Shadel and Edward R. Murrow were the first reporters to see the Buchenwald concentration camp in April 1945. Shadel's reports brought him a Witness to the Truth award from the Simon Wiesenthal Center.
- Received his Bachelor's degree from Andrews University and a Master's degree in history from the University of Michigan.
- Once worked as a musician in silent movie theaters and later played the marimba on live radio.
- Professor of communications at the University of Washington from 1963 to 1975.
- Given the "Witness to the Truth" award by the Simon Wiesenthal Center in 1990.
- Was one of only 28 news correspondents to report first-hand from Normandy during the D-Day invasion in 1944. Shadel was also present at the Battle of the Bulge and was one of the first reporters at the German concentration camp at Buchenwald after the camp was liberated.
- Anchored ABC's 12 hour coverage of John Glenn's three-orbit flight around the Earth in 1962.
- Began his career as a journalist as a news correspondant for the National Rifle Association and as editor of its magazine, the American Rifleman.
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