Inspire, Fall 2005

Inspire 25 of the war — 7,800 were killed or wounded. Lloyd’s three Miami University buddies were killed early in the offensive. Of the 269 men of Company B who attacked the tiny island, 13 walked away. The night before the invasion had been a night of fear and forced levity among the troops on board Lloyd’s ship. But it was perhaps the most important one in his life. He made his way to the upper deck where a Navy chaplain was leading a large group of men in worship. Lloyd gave his heart to the Lord that night and trusted Him as His Savior. He knew from then on that his life was in God’s hands. Seven days later, he was one of the 13 in his company who was able to walk away after the battle. Pud and Lloyd corresponded every day. She continued teaching for a while, then moved to Kalamazoo, Michigan to become director of health education for the YWCA. The war went on and on, and even after VJ Day, Lloyd was to spend several more months recuperating from wounds he received in the battle for Okinawa and from malaria he had contracted during his time in Peleliu. He called her the day he landed in California and a few days later was on a train to Chicago where he was mustered out of the Marines. Then he was off to Kalamazoo and Pud, his beloved bride. She was giddy with excitement. Now it was waiting in another train station, in another place and another time. Again, car after car discharged hundreds of men, deliriously happy to be home, of course, but she was saddened to see that so many were wounded, tired, broken by illness. She stood in her new dress waiting. Then she saw him. She had said goodbye to a strapping, 186- pound, baseball-playing Marine. War, wounds, and malaria had taken their toll and Lloyd weighed in at 139 pounds. But more than ever, he was the love of her life. A reporter from The Kalamazoo Gazette took their picture (below), which appeared on the front page of the paper the next day. It captured a Valentine’s Day they never forgot. Lloyd did finish his degree at Miami, and they did have their life together as educators. The couple served in a number of central Ohio schools in such towns as Yellow Springs, Hudson, New Carlisle, and South Charleston, both of them teaching and he also in administration. A trip to Africa found Lloyd serving as director of The American School in Kinshasa, Zaire with Pud as his main teacher. Another international opportunity took them to São Paulo, Brazil, where Lloyd was dean of The American High School. Pud’s 21-year involvement as a Girl Scout leader prompted Lloyd to remark, “That’s a lot of cookies.” In 1971, Pud attended a Billy Graham Crusade in Houston with their daughter, Susan, who was with Campus Crusade for Christ. It was there that Pud gave her heart to the Lord, thus completing their spiritual union. Currently, Southgate Baptist Church in Springfield, Ohio is their church home. Lloyd and Pud reared three children and now bask in the love of eight grandchildren as well. They have been blessed with 61 years of marriage and enjoy their retirement years near Clifton, Ohio. This article includes material taken from an original dramatic script written and directed by Dr. David Robey, presented in the annual Cedarville University Veterans Day Chapel, November 11, 2004.