[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 58 (Tuesday, April 21, 2015)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E539-E540]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          WISHING SSGT HOWARD LEE PAYNE A HAPPY 100TH BIRTHDAY

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                           HON. DUNCAN HUNTER

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, April 21, 2015

  Mr. HUNTER. Mr. Speaker, in February, 1942, Howard Payne was a 27-
year old employee of the Bank of Benton when he received his induction 
notice. He reported to the Scott Field, IL, Induction Center and was 
assigned an Army serial number. Payne completed his basic training at 
Camp McCoy, WI, the site of the Second Army Maneuvers where 65,000 
Soldiers from seven states formed the largest troop concentration in 
the Midwest. Payne was sent to Fort Sheridan, IL and then to Camp Ellis 
near Macomb, IL where he was assigned to the 368th Engineer Battalion. 
In October 1943, Payne's battalion was alerted that it would be 
shipping out from Camp Shanks, NY.
   Payne remembers leaving the New York Harbor and viewing the Statue 
of Liberty. ``Our Captain told us to take a good look at the Statue 
because some of you will never see her again.'' Payne recounts, ``He 
was right. I saw an unbelievable loss of life. We did not outgun the 
German's. We just outnumbered them.''
   Payne was with the first military convoy to travel overseas. Passage 
of the Atlantic Ocean was dangerous because the German's controlled the 
air and sea with submarines below and with airplanes above. It took his 
ship 14 days to cross the Atlantic Ocean due to the strength of the 
enemy. ``Our ship had to zigzag in the ocean to keep out of harm's 
way.'' Most American troop ships were accompanied by battleships.
   Payne's ship landed in Bristol, England, amid a furious battle. 
German airplanes were strafing Bristol's railroad tracks, city streets, 
and local citizens. To help ward off the low flying airplanes, the 
residents of Bristol had erected huge balloons to keep the planes from 
flying at a low altitude. ``We were introduced to war shortly after we 
landed.'' Members of the 368th were boarded on trains and transported 
to Liverpool, England. ``We began building airports and housing for the 
troops,'' noted Payne. While they were constructing airfields and 
barracks, the United States declared war on Germany.
   In May, 1944, the 368th were told that they would be a part of an 
invasion. ``We loaded our ships with equipment and troops and waited. 
Multiple times we were told to ``ship-out,'' but on two occasions, we 
were ordered to ``stand-down.'' Weather played a role in the timeline 
for the invasion. ``Finally, we got orders to ship out'' Payne 
remembers. On June 6, 1944, U.S. Army Private Payne was in the second 
wave at Utah Beach in the Normandy Peninsula Invasion. Payne joined 
thousands of Americans in Operation Overlord.
   GIs from the 368th were transferred from ships to Landing Ships, 
Tanks (LST). The LSTs were filled with caterpillars, tractors, and 
heavy construction equipment. The weight of the equipment caused the 
LST to sit deep in the water. ``Our LST hit the ocean's floor early and 
we had to jump out and wade ashore.''
   Utah Beach was one of the five sectors of the Allied invasion of 
German-occupied France in the Normandy landings. The westernmost of the 
five landing beaches, Utah is on the Cotentin Peninsula. Amphibious 
landings at Utah were undertaken by U.S. Army troops, with sea 
transport and naval artillery support provided by the U.S. Navy, with 
elements from the British Royal Navy.
   The objective at Utah Beach was to secure a beachhead, the location 
of important port facilities at Cherbourg. The amphibious assault by 
the U.S. 4th Infantry Division and 70th Tank Battalion was supported by 
airborne landings of the 82nd and the 101st. Their mission was to seal 
off the Cotentin Peninsula to prevent the Germans from reinforcing 
Cherbourg. The Allies faced two battalions of the 919th Grenadier 
Regiment, part of the 709th Static Infantry Division. German 
fortifications were under the leadership of ``The Desert Fox,'' Field 
Marshal Erwin Rommel.
   Payne remembers that the beaches were strewed with men who were 
dead, dying and wounded. The Germans were high over the cliffs. The 
first goal was to get ashore and scale the cliffs. ``When we got to the 
top of the cliffs, I thought the rough part was over, but I discovered 
the bad stuff was just beginning'' Payne recalls.
   Members of the 386th immediately began clearing the area of 
obstacles and mines. Additional American reinforcements continued to 
arrive. At the close of D-Day, Allied forces had captured about half of 
the planned area. Contingents of German defenders remained, but the 
beachhead was secure. Payne's unit pushed the Germans back to Le Mans, 
France. The 368th constructed a pontoon bridge to facilitate the 
European Theater of Operations and allowed Lieutenant Colonel Christian 
Clarke, Jr. to move his 358th Infantry, 90th Infantry Division across 
the river. Clarke proceeded on into Western France.
   Payne was with the forces that helped liberate Paris, fought the 
enemy to Luxemburg, and was caught in the Ardennes region of Wallonia 
in Belgium. It was the winter of 1944 when the Allied Forces had to 
defend the important harbor of Antwerp from the Germans

[[Page E540]]

in a 40-day surprise attack that came to be known as the ``Battle of 
the Bulge.'' Between December 16, 1944, and January 25, 1945, the U.S. 
forces fought back the German attack, and in doing so, incurred their 
highest casualties for any operation of the war. America's fighting 
spirit prevailed and, late in January, the Allied forces scored a 
decisive victory over Germany.
   The Allied forces fought the enemy up the Ryan River and forced the 
German's back to Berlin. Payne's battalion was stopped from attacking 
Berlin due to terms of the Yalta Agreement. The United States and 
England capitulated to Russia, and agreed that the only invading forces 
would be the Red Army. ``We had the fight and we had the spirit to 
battle the enemy all the way to Berlin, but Russian dictator Joseph 
Stalin had convinced the Allied forces to stop our progress.''
   On May 8, 1945, Payne was near Dusseldorf, Germany when the Allied 
forces announced Victory in Europe. The six-year-old War had concluded 
in Europe, but the Japanese were still fighting in the Pacific Theatre. 
Payne and others were told that GIs involved in the Normandy Invasion 
were exempt from the war in the Pacific. The Pacific conflict ended 
only after the August 6, 1945, detonation of the Atomic Bomb. President 
Harry S. Truman ordered the deployment of the new weapon that caused 
the Japanese to capitulate to Allied demands. Payne waited from June 
until November to be shipped back to the states.
   On Dec. 5, 1945, Payne was discharged from the U.S. Army with the 
rank of Staff Sergeant. Ten days after his discharge, he married Helene 
Takie in his hometown of Benton, IL. Their marriage lasted almost 65 
years, until her passing in July, 2010. Payne returned to his position 
at the Bank of Benton and eventually became its president. He remains 
active as a community leader, a champion of education projects and a 
philanthropist.
   Mr. Speaker, today Payne will celebrate his 100th birthday at his 
rural Benton, Illinois, home. We extend our deepest appreciation to 
Howard Lee Payne for his service to his country, both in battle during 
WWII, and for his post-war contributions.

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