[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 129 (Friday, September 21, 2012)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1601]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         HONORING MR. OLIVER SIEBERT OF CHESTERFIELD, MISSOURI

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. W. TODD AKIN

                              of missouri

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, September 20, 2012

  Mr. AKIN.  Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Mr. Oliver Siebert of 
Chesterfield, Missouri. The French government recently awarded Mr. 
Siebert the Legion of Honor for his part in the liberation of 
Strasbourg, France. The medal and the accompanying title of Knight of 
the Legion of Honor is the highest military award given by the French 
government.
  Mr. Siebert, just twenty years old, was an acting second lieutenant 
leading the 324th infantry battalion and the 220th field artillery in 
November 1944. American forces, operating jointly with elements of the 
French Second Armored Division under the command of Captain Jean Penet, 
fought across the Vosges Mountains in the French Alps throughout 
October and November 1944. On 23 November 1944 elements of the French 
Army entered Strasbourg and liberated the city.
  Mr. Siebert's service did not end with the liberation of Strasbourg. 
While conducting operations in support of the assault of Hangviller on 
27 November 1944, Mr. Siebert and a small group of American soldiers 
were captured by German SS soldiers disguised as U.S. troops. Three 
days later, after overpowering two SS officers and commandeering their 
car, he was able to escape and return to his duties as an artillery 
forward observer.
  On Christmas Day 1944 a German shell landed not far from his forward 
observation post and caused severe damage to his right leg. German 
strafing of the ambulance that evacuated him that night caused further 
damage that would require extensive surgery and lengthy convalescence 
to repair. After treatment at several American military hospitals, Mr. 
Siebert was honorably discharged on 18 August 1945.
  Mr. Siebert returned to St. Louis, earned a degree in mechanical 
engineering from Washington University and in 1948 married Virginia 
Turner, his wife now for more than 63 years.
  I am truly honored to have the opportunity to share this heroic 
story. This son of a truck driver for Anheuser-Busch, despite initially 
being rejected for military service because he was ``clinically 
blind'', did not give up his quest to do his part to defeat Nazi 
Germany. And now, almost seventy years later, I join the French 
government in honoring his sacrifice and service to the French people 
and these United States.
  Mr. Siebert, thank you. And may God Bless you and your family.

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