[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 7903 Enrolled Bill (ENR)]
H.R.7903
One Hundred Seventeenth Congress
of the
United States of America
AT THE SECOND SESSION
Begun and held at the City of Washington on Monday,
the third day of January, two thousand and twenty-two
An Act
To designate the Department of Veterans Affairs community-based
outpatient clinic located in Canton, Michigan, as the ``Major General
Oliver W. Dillard VA Clinic''.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) Oliver W. Dillard was born on September 28, 1926, in
Margaret, Alabama.
(2) In 1945, following basic training he was drafted and was
assigned to the 349th Field Artillery Group in Germany as part of
the World War II army of occupation. He was selected to serve as
company clerk and began to work his way through the ranks,
attaining Technical Sergeant.
(3) Dillard successfully completed the Officer Candidate School
(OCS) selection process and was approved for attendance at the
Infantry OCS at Fort Benning in January 1947. He received a
commission as a Second Lieutenant of Infantry after graduating from
Infantry OCS in July 1947 and was the honor graduate of his
Infantry officers basic course.
(4) He served in command and intelligence positions in Korea,
Germany, and Vietnam.
(5) During his service, Dillard graduated from the Army Command
and General Staff College (CGSC) in 1958, where he was one of only
three Black officers in his class. After CGSC, he completed his
bachelor's degree at the University of Omaha leveraging his earlier
studies at Tuskegee Institute.
(6) In 1965, Mr. Dillard graduated from the National War
College, becoming the first Black officer to do so. He graduated at
the top of his class.
(7) MG Dillard's military awards include the Distinguished
Service Medal with one Oak Leaf Cluster, the Silver Star, the
Legion of Merit with two Oak Leaf Clusters, the Bronze Star with
one Oak Leaf Cluster and ``V'' Device, the Purple Heart, the Air
Medal, the Combat Infantryman's Badge with Star (two awards), the
Army Staff Identification Badge, and the Vietnam Distinguished
Service Order (1st and 2d Class). Dillard also received two
civilian awards from the Republic of Vietnam, the Vietnam Rural
Revolutionary Development Medal and the Vietnam Ethnic Development
Service Medal (1st Class).
(8) Dillard was inducted into the United States Army's Military
Intelligence Hall of Fame in 2012, the Officer Candidate School
Hall of Fame in 2012, and the Alabama Military Hall of Honor in
2013.
(9) He died in Canton, Michigan, in 2015, and is buried in
Arlington National Cemetery.
SEC. 2. DESIGNATION OF DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS COMMUNITY-BASED
OUTPATIENT CLINIC LOCATED IN CANTON, MICHIGAN.
(a) Designation.--The Department of Veterans Affairs community-
based outpatient clinic located in Canton, Michigan, shall after the
date of the enactment of this Act be known and designated as the
``Major General Oliver W. Dillard VA Clinic''.
(b) References.-- Any reference in a law, map, regulation,
document, paper, or other record of the United States to the facility
referred to in subsection (a) shall be deemed to be a reference to the
``Major General Oliver W. Dillard VA Clinic''.
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Vice President of the United States and
President of the Senate.