[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 124 (Wednesday, September 15, 2010)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1630]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    TRIBUTE TO CLYDE ``BILL'' NEELY

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                            HON. TOM LATHAM

                                of iowa

                    in the house of representatives

                     Wednesday, September 15, 2010

  Mr. LATHAM. Madam Speaker, I rise to recognize Clyde ``Bill'' Neely, 
a World War II Army Air Corps veteran from Boone County, Iowa, and to 
express my appreciation for his dedication and commitment to his 
country.
  The Boone News Republican is currently running a series of articles 
that honors one Boone County veteran every Tuesday from Memorial Day to 
Veterans Day. Clyde ``Bill'' Neely was recognized on Tuesday, July 13. 
Below is the article in its entirety:

              Boone County Veterans: Clyde ``Bill'' Neely

                        (By Alexander Hutchins)

       Clyde ``Bill'' Neely, 86, a former Army Air Corps Sergeant, 
     lives a full life. He resides today in his childhood home, 
     and what was once an attached grocery store is now a personal 
     museum to his life's achievements.
       Neely served in the Boone Fire Department after the war, 
     drawing strength from the same discipline he called upon when 
     he served in the Army Air Corps in World War II.
       Neely was born in Boone in 1924 in a house across the 
     street from his current residence. He graduated from high 
     school and played sports in the community. Neely met his wife 
     Florence while still in high school. They would marry in 
     1943, and he would be one of the few married men in his unit.
       ``I had a real excellent childhood. In fact, I've had an 
     excellent life,'' Neely said with a smile.
       His father was a butcher who ran a grocery out of the house 
     that the Neely's now reside in. Neely would run the grocery 
     for several years when he returned from the war, though he 
     would eventually close the store and join the fire 
     department.
       Neely's role in the war began in 1943.
       ``Originally I started right after I got out of school, 
     because we knew after Pearl Harbor that our life was going to 
     be in the military,'' Neely said.
       He had wanted to train in a nearby military Ferry School to 
     ship airplanes overseas for the war effort, but the program 
     was cancelled before Neely entered the Army. He then enlisted 
     in the Air Corps in Des Moines and attended basic training in 
     Miami, Florida. Neely's older brother, Noel, was one of four 
     Boone men he trained with.
       ``Like I said, I've had good luck all the way through my 
     life,'' Neely said.
       Neely's eyesight kept him from being trained as a pilot, 
     but he entered the Armament service and trained to maintain 
     and repair weapons, as well as load bombs and cargo on the B-
     24 bombers his unit flew. He would serve part of the war in 
     the U.S. before being stationed in Aldborough, England.
       Part of Neely's early duty in the war was in training other 
     Air Corpsmen in the U.S.
       ``We used to train aerial gunners with a .50 caliber 
     machine gun. We'd start them out with pistols and rifles and 
     work them up to their machine guns. Then, when they went into 
     advanced training, we'd put a big sleeve on behind a tow 
     plane and we'd take all the bullets they would use and put 
     different colors of paraffin on them so when the bullet went 
     through the sleeve it left a color. That's a way we could 
     identify just how many of the gunners could hit their 
     targets,'' Neely said.
       When Neely was stationed in England, he worked in Armament 
     to load the B-24 bombers for missions. His unit, the 8th Air 
     Corps, included Neely's Commanding Officer as the youngest 
     Colonel in the Air Corp and the actor Jimmy Stewart as an 
     operations officer. The ground crew could tell from the bomb 
     and fuel loads where the planes would be flying, and Neely 
     said the crew would always ``sweat out'' the flights while 
     the bombers were away. The 8th Air Corps had more casualties 
     per unit than any other branch of the service, Neely said.
       ``From D-day until we won supremacy of the air over there, 
     we were loading out two or three missions a day,'' he said.
       Neely's first experience upon arriving in England was 
     hearing an Axis Sally radio broadcast that promised the 
     German air force would ``pay them a visit.'' The base was 
     bombed that night, and after that engagement drone bombs 
     would sometimes zip over the base bound for targets further 
     into England.
       ``People forget how smart the Germans were,'' Neely said.
       At the end of the war, Neely and the 8th Air Corps were 
     assigned to pack up equipment and prepare to deploy to the 
     pacific theater. That redeployment was thankfully unnecessary 
     and Neely was released from the Air Corps while on duty in 
     California.
       Neely returned home and ran the family grocery store, but 
     after marrying his wife Florence and starting a family he was 
     informed of an open position on the Boone Fire Department in 
     1951. He would serve a career with the Boone Fire Department 
     until retirement in 1984. He also coached baseball for almost 
     20 years. When a drowning occurred at Ledges State Park, 
     Neely was instrumental in one of the first underwater rescue 
     teams in the state. He and Florence would raise three sons: 
     Allen, Richard and Ronald (who has since passed away).
       Neely attributed much of his success in the fire department 
     to the attitude and discipline he acquired as a result of his 
     service.
       ``People don't realize it, but your fire department to be 
     exact, or your police department, have to be partially 
     military,'' Neely said.
       His training also helped him learn to control his temper, 
     restraining a tendency he had to ``fight at the drop of a 
     hat'' in his younger days.
       Neely said he has no real regrets from his time in the war. 
     ``I did it. I'd do it again,'' Neely said. ``The nation came 
     together in a rare way, and everyone did their part in that 
     time.''
       He did say that modern wars are a different enterprise, as 
     soldiers today aren't able to trust the people around them.
       ``A fight is one thing, but that's not a fight,'' Neely 
     said. One of the important things to do, he said, was to 
     thank veterans when the opportunity is available.
       Neely has previously served as grand marshal in Boone 
     parades, and a memorial to his son, Ronald, sits in the 
     current fire station, commemorating his years of service.
       I commend Clyde ``Bill'' Neely for his many years of 
     loyalty and service to our great Nation. It is an immense 
     honor to represent him in the United States Congress, and I 
     wish him all the best in his future endeavors.

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