[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 103 (Wednesday, June 19, 2019)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E795-E796]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




IN RECOGNITION OF THE LIFE, LEGACY, AND SERVICE OF MAJOR GENERAL JAMES 
                               LISON, JR.

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. MIKE GALLAGHER

                              of wisconsin

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, June 19, 2019

  Mr. GALLAGHER. Madam Speaker, today I rise in honor of the life, 
legacy, and service of Major General James Lison, Jr., who passed away 
on Friday, June 7, 2019 at the age of 98.
  Maj. Gen. Lison was born in Green Bay on October 23, 1920. He 
graduated from Green Bay East High School in 1938, where he met the 
love of his life, Marian Kehl. Upon graduating from the Reserve Officer 
Training Course at St. Norbert College, he was commissioned as a second 
lieutenant in the Army and ordered to active duty at the U.S. Army 
Infantry Replacement Training Center, Fort McClellan, Alabama on June 
10, 1942. He returned to Green Bay to marry his sweetheart on September 
11, 1942. The couple had four children, Kathy, Peter, Susan and Joan.
  Maj. Gen. Lison served on active duty from 1942 to 1946, of which 14 
months was in the European Theater as a rifle company officer, combat 
liaison officer and assistant operations officer with the 42nd 
``Rainbow'' Division.
  Separated from active duty in March 1946, Maj. Gen. Lison accepted 
immediate assignment to the U.S. Army Reserve. In November 1947, his 
Army Reserve unit commander, then organizing a Wisconsin National Guard 
regiment, recruited him to organize and command Tank Company, 426th 
Infantry Regiment, 32nd Infantry Division. In 1951, he was assigned to 
the G-3 Section, Headquarters, 32 Infantry Division.
  In 1953, Maj. Gen. Lison transferred to State Headquarters, Wisconsin 
Army National Guard, to accept full-time employment in the state 
Adjutant General's Office, where he served in a variety of staff 
assignments, culminating in his appointment by Governor Warren Knowles 
as the State Adjutant General in February 1969. He was promoted to 
Brigadier General in December 1968, and to Major General in March 1970. 
He retired from the active National Guard in 1980, and from state 
employment with the Wisconsin Department of Military Affairs in 1983.
  Through his service, Maj. Gen. Lison earned many awards and 
decorations which include the Legion of Merit, with Oak Leaf Cluster 
(second award), the Bronze Star Medal, the American Campaign Medal, the 
European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal (two campaigns-Rhineland 
and Central Europe), the World War II Victory Medal, the Army of 
Occupation Medal, the Armed Forces Reserve Medal, and the Combat 
Infantryman's Badge, as well as a number of State decorations and 
awards.

[[Page E796]]

  Madam Speaker, words cannot adequately thank Maj. Gen. Lison for his 
years of service to our country. May his service, dedication, and 
sacrifice be remembered by a grateful nation. I offer my sincerest 
condolences to his family.

                          ____________________