[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 100 (Tuesday, July 7, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1647]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  WILLIAM CHURCHHILL ``DOBBER'' DOYLE

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. JOHN J. DUNCAN, JR.

                              of tennessee

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, July 7, 2009

  Mr. DUNCAN. Madam Speaker, there is perhaps no greater sacrifice an 
American can make than serving their Country during a time of war, and 
one of my constituents--William Churchhill ``Dobber'' Doyle--has quite 
a story to tell.
  At 90-years-old, Billy--as he is known to many--loves to share his 
tale with anyone who will listen. Like many from the ``Greatest 
Generation,'' his time during World War II reads like a Hollywood 
script, but to the humble man who lived it, the sacrifice was his duty.
  Billy was assigned to a supply unit and stationed at Camp Forrest in 
Tullahoma, Tennessee in December 1941. On December 6, he was told to 
get ready to be deployed, and he boarded a troop train to the west 
coast on the eve of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
  His first step on foreign soil was on his birthday on November 19, 
1942, in North Africa. He would eventually pass through sites like 
Casablanca and Cairo and make his way to Europe, crossing through 
Italy, Germany, and France. As Billy told the Knoxville News Sentinel 
in Knoxville, Tennessee, ``Every time the front moved, we had to 
move.''
  As part of a supply unit, Billy was one step behind General Patton 
throughout the war, tasked with keeping him supplied and always at risk 
of attack. He was part of one of the bloodiest campaigns of the war to 
establish a beachhead in Italy. 3,000 troops died in the effort, and 
his 30-member unit lost two in the battle.
  Billy demonstrated his true character after breaking his nose in the 
field. He refused to seek treatment because that would mean having to 
leave his men.
  His favorite moment of the war was when a group of French citizens 
called him a liberator. He learned of the end of the war in Lyon, 
France while listening to the radio. As he told the Knoxville News 
Sentinel, ``The town went crazy, especially the girls.''
  Throughout his life in Tennessee after the war, Billy has selflessly 
given his time back to the community. He is known as the ``Bread Man'' 
around his hometown of Vestal, and donates his time to the Vestal 
United Methodist Church Food Pantry and Center of Hope Ministry. He is 
loved and respected by everyone who is fortunate enough to know him.
  Madam Speaker, I have known many members of the Doyle family, and 
they are one of the most respected and prominent families in South 
Knoxville. I gladly bring this story of William Churchhill ``Dobber'' 
Doyle to the attention of my Colleagues and other readers of the 
Record, and I hope this tale of the ``Greatest Generation'' inspires 
the next.

                          ____________________