[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1220-E1221]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

TRIBUTE TO LLOYD OYSTER

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HON. DAVE CAMP

of michigan

in the house of representatives

Wednesday, June 27, 2001

Mr. CAMP. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to Lloyd Oyster, a
decorated soldier from World War II. I would like to acknowledge his
bravery as a servicemen fighting on the front lines in Europe at the
Battle of the Bulge. His many medals and awards demonstrate his bravery
and patriotism. I am proud to stand and honor this outstanding citizen
of the United States and would like to call his admirable actions to
the attention of my colleagues in the House of Representatives.
I have attached for the record an article printed in the Ogemaw
County Herald by Deanna Cahill about Mr. Oyster's experience as a World
War II soldier.

Six decades ago, at the end of World War II, Lloyd Oyster
was given a choice. The Lupton man had to decide whether or
not to spend an extra few months in Europe and receive the
medals he was entitled to, or return home to his wife and
baby daughter.
Critically wounded in the Battle of the Bulge, Oyster
didn't hesitate. He wanted to go home. He didn't regret that
decision until recently, when he remarked to his youngest
son, Joe, that he wished he would have stayed and received
his medals.
Without letting his father know, Joe went on a mission to
grant his father's wish.
On Monday, June 4, that wish was granted when Rep. Dave
Camp presented Oyster, one by one, with the Good Conduct
Medal, Purple Heart, European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign
Medal with four Bronze Stars, the World War II Victory Medal,
the American Campaign Ribbon, Combat Infantryman Badge and
the Honorable Service Lapel Button WW II.
An honored but humble Oyster graciously accepted his medals
from Camp, but said many others were far more deserving.
``I didn't do any more than anybody else did,'' he said.
Lloyd Oyster was born at home Jan. 19, 1922, to parents
Joseph and Verna Mae Oyster in Lupton. The youngest of six
boys, Oyster lost his mother when he was only 5 years old.
She died giving birth to her seventh son. The baby died as
well.
``I remember burying her,'' said Oyster somberly. ``(After
his mother died) we stayed together and Dad raised us on the
farm.''

[[Page E1221]]

Eventually two of his older brothers enlisted in the
service. One went off to fight in Europe, the other in the
Pacific. At the age of 21, Oyster was working at Borden's
Dairy in West Branch and met 17-year-old Marge.
Oyster worked with Marge's sister's husband, and Marge and
her sister would often visit at the dairy. He would walk
Marge home after he was finished with work because she was
frightened to walk alone.
``That started it,'' Oyster said. ``That is how we got
acquainted, and from there she tried to rope me in, and she
did.''
In late 1942 Oyster was drafted into the Army. He could
have been deferred because Borden made products for the
government, but Oyster opted against deferment.
``I was no worse or better than anyone else,'' he said.
Thirty days before he was shipped overseas, he received word
that his brother had been killed in Europe.
His brother's death made him a bit uneasy about the future,
but he still wanted to serve his country.
``I wanted to go over and finish the job,'' he said.
On Dec. 7, 1942, Oyster embarked on the first leg of his
journey. He attended basic training at Camp Claibourne, La.,
and went on to Camp House, Texas, where he was trained as a
machine gunner.
On his first furlough from the service, Oyster married
Marge on April 21, 1942.
He was then shipped to New York. Three days later he
boarded the U.S.S. Montacella for the long trip across the
Atlantic.
``I went over to France on my honeymoon,'' Oyster said. His
young bride stayed with her parents in West Branch while he
set off to fight for his country.
``(The journey) was kind of hairy,'' Oyster remembered.
``We would run into a storm and have to change course. One
time we had to change course for an enemy submarine.''
``There were close living conditions,'' he said, adding
that he volunteered for duty with the Navy sailors in the PX
to get out from below decks. ``You can't realize--(below
decks) it was three bunks high by six to eight bunks wide.
Let me just say this--you didn't want to be on the bottom
bunk.''
The soldiers finally arrived in France and went directly
across into Germany. For six months Oyster, assigned to
Company E of the 103rd Infantry Division, served on the front
lines as a machine gunner.
``The Germans didn't like machine gunners,'' he said,
adding that the gunners were the first targets of the enemy.
The battles were fierce and Oyster witnessed the deaths of
many of his fellow soldiers and friends.
``When your buddies got killed right alongside of you, it
makes you want to finish it,'' he said. ``You really didn't
have time to think. You do what you have to do, and that was
it.''
Oyster added that fear was always present.
``Anyone who says they weren't afraid, they're nuts,'' he
said. ``You have got guns and artillery aimed at you.''
In December 1944 as Allied forces were pushing their way
into Germany, the Germans made a surprise counterattack and
the Battle of the Bulge ensued.
During an artillery barrage, Oyster was showered with
shrapnel. He was hit in the leg and a small piece of shrapnel
struck him in the back.
He was taken to a field hospital for treatment. The
hospital was located in the woods and consisted only of some
tents. Oyster underwent surgery and lay there for several
days. The battle was still being waged and he couldn't be
moved.
By the time Oyster got to a hospital in England, gangrene
had set in.
``They said they were going to take my leg,'' Oyster said.
``I said no. At this time penicillin was just being
introduced.''
Doctors administered penicillin to Oyster.
``The infection cleared up and I got to save my leg,'' he
said.
On Dec. 31, 1944, as Oyster lay in a hospital in England,
Marie gave birth to their first child, Nancy. Oyster was then
put into limited service and transferred to the Air Force.
``I wanted to be in the Air Force in the first place,'' he
said. ``It (the Air Force) is the best place you can be, as
far as I'm concerned. It was almost like sending me home,
putting me in there.''
For the remainder of the war, Oyster was stationed at the
8th Army Headquarters, located about 30 miles from London,
taking care of three generals' vehicles.
``They were going to send our division to Japan,'' he said.
``But before we got shipped out, the war was over.''
Oyster sailed home, this time on the Queen Mary. Upon
arrival back into the United States, Oyster was given a
choice.
``They told me that I could go in the hospital for two to
three months and get my disability. I wanted to go home,'' he
said, looking at his wife of 59 years.
Oyster returned home to claim his bride, and the couple
settled back into the Lupton area.
Two more daughters, Joyce and Susan, followed in 1946 and
1948. Oyster yearned for a son.
``You take them as they come,'' he said. ``But I wanted a
boy.''
In 1950, Marge delivered their first son, Larry. Another
daughter, Jean, arrived in 1951, followed by Russell in 1954,
Linda in 1956, and finally Joe was born in 1957.
``I kept trying to have a good one,'' said Oyster
teasingly. ``If I couldn't do better than that, I thought I
better stop.''
The Oysters now have 23 grandchildren and 11 great-
grandchildren.
Years later Oyster traveled to the veterans' hospital to
receive his medical benefits. He didn't realize that when he
was discharged from the hospital in England, he was listed as
a amputee.
``Veterans records showed that I had a wooden leg,'' he
said, chuckling. ``They wanted to know where my wooden leg
was.''
For many years, Oyster worked construction for Strand Steel
Construction and also worked for himself for a time. At age
65, he retired on Social Security, but never stopped working.
In fact, at 79, Oyster still works full-time as a park
ranger at the Rifle River Recreation Area in Lupton. He is
expecting to finally retire later this summer after 20 years
at the park.
In addition to working full-time, he also takes care of
Marge, who is now confined to a wheelchair.
``My day starts at 5 a.m. and ends at 9 p.m., seven days a
week,'' he said. ``I just do it.''
A couple of years ago, Oyster was reading a VFW magazine
and remarked that he wished that he would have stayed in the
service and received his medals.
His son, Joe, went home and told his wife. They contacted
the Veteran's Affairs office in West Branch to determine how
they would go about acquiring his medals.
They filled out a medal request form and mailed it to St.
Louis, Mo. After six months, they heard nothing. Joe then
mailed in a second request and still received no
satisfaction.
A representative at Veteran's Affairs suggested they
contact Camp, and within just a matter of a few months the
medals were in Camps possession.
Camp hand-delivered those medals to a surprised Oyster at
Joe's home on June 4.
Joe had invited his father to his home on the pretense of
having a pizza party. Oyster patiently waited for the pizza
to arrive. He was getting hungry and also a bit suspicious.
``You don't very often surprise me,'' Oyster said. ``But
they did surprise me. It felt good.''
``I didn't expect to get them. There are a lot of soldiers
who deserve the same thing,'' he added. ``I was just
defending my country. I didn't do any more than anybody else
did.''
``I would do it again before I would send my grandsons to
do it,'' he added.

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