[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 91 (Wednesday, June 27, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1220-E1221]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                        TRIBUTE TO LLOYD OYSTER

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. DAVE CAMP

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, June 27, 2001

  Mr. CAMP. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to Lloyd Oyster, a 
decorated soldier from World War II. I would like to acknowledge his 
bravery as a servicemen fighting on the front lines in Europe at the 
Battle of the Bulge. His many medals and awards demonstrate his bravery 
and patriotism. I am proud to stand and honor this outstanding citizen 
of the United States and would like to call his admirable actions to 
the attention of my colleagues in the House of Representatives.
  I have attached for the record an article printed in the Ogemaw 
County Herald by Deanna Cahill about Mr. Oyster's experience as a World 
War II soldier.

       Six decades ago, at the end of World War II, Lloyd Oyster 
     was given a choice. The Lupton man had to decide whether or 
     not to spend an extra few months in Europe and receive the 
     medals he was entitled to, or return home to his wife and 
     baby daughter.
       Critically wounded in the Battle of the Bulge, Oyster 
     didn't hesitate. He wanted to go home. He didn't regret that 
     decision until recently, when he remarked to his youngest 
     son, Joe, that he wished he would have stayed and received 
     his medals.
       Without letting his father know, Joe went on a mission to 
     grant his father's wish.
       On Monday, June 4, that wish was granted when Rep. Dave 
     Camp presented Oyster, one by one, with the Good Conduct 
     Medal, Purple Heart, European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign 
     Medal with four Bronze Stars, the World War II Victory Medal, 
     the American Campaign Ribbon, Combat Infantryman Badge and 
     the Honorable Service Lapel Button WW II.
       An honored but humble Oyster graciously accepted his medals 
     from Camp, but said many others were far more deserving.
       ``I didn't do any more than anybody else did,'' he said.
       Lloyd Oyster was born at home Jan. 19, 1922, to parents 
     Joseph and Verna Mae Oyster in Lupton. The youngest of six 
     boys, Oyster lost his mother when he was only 5 years old. 
     She died giving birth to her seventh son. The baby died as 
     well.
       ``I remember burying her,'' said Oyster somberly. ``(After 
     his mother died) we stayed together and Dad raised us on the 
     farm.''

[[Page E1221]]

       Eventually two of his older brothers enlisted in the 
     service. One went off to fight in Europe, the other in the 
     Pacific. At the age of 21, Oyster was working at Borden's 
     Dairy in West Branch and met 17-year-old Marge.
       Oyster worked with Marge's sister's husband, and Marge and 
     her sister would often visit at the dairy. He would walk 
     Marge home after he was finished with work because she was 
     frightened to walk alone.
       ``That started it,'' Oyster said. ``That is how we got 
     acquainted, and from there she tried to rope me in, and she 
     did.''
       In late 1942 Oyster was drafted into the Army. He could 
     have been deferred because Borden made products for the 
     government, but Oyster opted against deferment.
       ``I was no worse or better than anyone else,'' he said. 
     Thirty days before he was shipped overseas, he received word 
     that his brother had been killed in Europe.
       His brother's death made him a bit uneasy about the future, 
     but he still wanted to serve his country.
       ``I wanted to go over and finish the job,'' he said.
       On Dec. 7, 1942, Oyster embarked on the first leg of his 
     journey. He attended basic training at Camp Claibourne, La., 
     and went on to Camp House, Texas, where he was trained as a 
     machine gunner.
       On his first furlough from the service, Oyster married 
     Marge on April 21, 1942.
       He was then shipped to New York. Three days later he 
     boarded the U.S.S. Montacella for the long trip across the 
     Atlantic.
       ``I went over to France on my honeymoon,'' Oyster said. His 
     young bride stayed with her parents in West Branch while he 
     set off to fight for his country.
       ``(The journey) was kind of hairy,'' Oyster remembered. 
     ``We would run into a storm and have to change course. One 
     time we had to change course for an enemy submarine.''
       ``There were close living conditions,'' he said, adding 
     that he volunteered for duty with the Navy sailors in the PX 
     to get out from below decks. ``You can't realize--(below 
     decks) it was three bunks high by six to eight bunks wide. 
     Let me just say this--you didn't want to be on the bottom 
     bunk.''
       The soldiers finally arrived in France and went directly 
     across into Germany. For six months Oyster, assigned to 
     Company E of the 103rd Infantry Division, served on the front 
     lines as a machine gunner.
       ``The Germans didn't like machine gunners,'' he said, 
     adding that the gunners were the first targets of the enemy. 
     The battles were fierce and Oyster witnessed the deaths of 
     many of his fellow soldiers and friends.
       ``When your buddies got killed right alongside of you, it 
     makes you want to finish it,'' he said. ``You really didn't 
     have time to think. You do what you have to do, and that was 
     it.''
       Oyster added that fear was always present.
       ``Anyone who says they weren't afraid, they're nuts,'' he 
     said. ``You have got guns and artillery aimed at you.''
       In December 1944 as Allied forces were pushing their way 
     into Germany, the Germans made a surprise counterattack and 
     the Battle of the Bulge ensued.
       During an artillery barrage, Oyster was showered with 
     shrapnel. He was hit in the leg and a small piece of shrapnel 
     struck him in the back.
       He was taken to a field hospital for treatment. The 
     hospital was located in the woods and consisted only of some 
     tents. Oyster underwent surgery and lay there for several 
     days. The battle was still being waged and he couldn't be 
     moved.
       By the time Oyster got to a hospital in England, gangrene 
     had set in.
       ``They said they were going to take my leg,'' Oyster said. 
     ``I said no. At this time penicillin was just being 
     introduced.''
       Doctors administered penicillin to Oyster.
       ``The infection cleared up and I got to save my leg,'' he 
     said.
       On Dec. 31, 1944, as Oyster lay in a hospital in England, 
     Marie gave birth to their first child, Nancy. Oyster was then 
     put into limited service and transferred to the Air Force.
       ``I wanted to be in the Air Force in the first place,'' he 
     said. ``It (the Air Force) is the best place you can be, as 
     far as I'm concerned. It was almost like sending me home, 
     putting me in there.''
       For the remainder of the war, Oyster was stationed at the 
     8th Army Headquarters, located about 30 miles from London, 
     taking care of three generals' vehicles.
       ``They were going to send our division to Japan,'' he said. 
     ``But before we got shipped out, the war was over.''
       Oyster sailed home, this time on the Queen Mary. Upon 
     arrival back into the United States, Oyster was given a 
     choice.
       ``They told me that I could go in the hospital for two to 
     three months and get my disability. I wanted to go home,'' he 
     said, looking at his wife of 59 years.
       Oyster returned home to claim his bride, and the couple 
     settled back into the Lupton area.
       Two more daughters, Joyce and Susan, followed in 1946 and 
     1948. Oyster yearned for a son.
       ``You take them as they come,'' he said. ``But I wanted a 
     boy.''
       In 1950, Marge delivered their first son, Larry. Another 
     daughter, Jean, arrived in 1951, followed by Russell in 1954, 
     Linda in 1956, and finally Joe was born in 1957.
       ``I kept trying to have a good one,'' said Oyster 
     teasingly. ``If I couldn't do better than that, I thought I 
     better stop.''
       The Oysters now have 23 grandchildren and 11 great-
     grandchildren.
       Years later Oyster traveled to the veterans' hospital to 
     receive his medical benefits. He didn't realize that when he 
     was discharged from the hospital in England, he was listed as 
     a amputee.
       ``Veterans records showed that I had a wooden leg,'' he 
     said, chuckling. ``They wanted to know where my wooden leg 
     was.''
       For many years, Oyster worked construction for Strand Steel 
     Construction and also worked for himself for a time. At age 
     65, he retired on Social Security, but never stopped working.
       In fact, at 79, Oyster still works full-time as a park 
     ranger at the Rifle River Recreation Area in Lupton. He is 
     expecting to finally retire later this summer after 20 years 
     at the park.
       In addition to working full-time, he also takes care of 
     Marge, who is now confined to a wheelchair.
       ``My day starts at 5 a.m. and ends at 9 p.m., seven days a 
     week,'' he said. ``I just do it.''
       A couple of years ago, Oyster was reading a VFW magazine 
     and remarked that he wished that he would have stayed in the 
     service and received his medals.
       His son, Joe, went home and told his wife. They contacted 
     the Veteran's Affairs office in West Branch to determine how 
     they would go about acquiring his medals.
       They filled out a medal request form and mailed it to St. 
     Louis, Mo. After six months, they heard nothing. Joe then 
     mailed in a second request and still received no 
     satisfaction.
       A representative at Veteran's Affairs suggested they 
     contact Camp, and within just a matter of a few months the 
     medals were in Camps possession.
       Camp hand-delivered those medals to a surprised Oyster at 
     Joe's home on June 4.
       Joe had invited his father to his home on the pretense of 
     having a pizza party. Oyster patiently waited for the pizza 
     to arrive. He was getting hungry and also a bit suspicious.
       ``You don't very often surprise me,'' Oyster said. ``But 
     they did surprise me. It felt good.''
       ``I didn't expect to get them. There are a lot of soldiers 
     who deserve the same thing,'' he added. ``I was just 
     defending my country. I didn't do any more than anybody else 
     did.''
       ``I would do it again before I would send my grandsons to 
     do it,'' he added.

     

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