Edwin Lloyd, Jr., a veteran of the United States Marine Corps, will be one of three former service-members to be honored by Neillsville Legion Monday. (Photo submitted)
Edwin Lloyd, Jr., also known as “Eddie,” will be honored by the American Legion Post 73, as one of its three honorees in June.
Lloyd was born in Neillsville, where he attended elementary, middle and high school. He graduated from Neillsville High School in 1990.
He signed up on the delayed entry program after his junior year in high school so he could join the United States Marine Corps.
Thirty days after his graduation, Lloyd went to the Marine Corps recruit depot in San Diego, California, where he completed 13 weeks of boot camp.
Later on, Lloyd went to Camp Pendleton in California where he did five weeks of combat training.
He was then transferred to Fort Sill in Oklahoma, where he was for eight weeks. He was there for field artillery.
After that, Lloyd was sent to his permanent duty station, the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center at Twentynine Palms, California. He was in the 3rd Battalion of the 11th Marines, India Battery.
In December 1990, Lloyd was sent to his battery in Saudi Arabia. He was temporarily assigned to the 2nd Battalion, Fox Battery. When the campaign was complete, he was ordered back to India Battery and returned to Twentynine Palms.
In addition to serving in Operation Desert Shield and Operation Desert Storm in 1990 and 1991, Lloyd served in Operation Restore Hope in Somalia in 1992 and 1993.
“For this campaign, we left the big guns at home,” Lloyd said. “We were there as a peace-keeping force in what was supposed to be a humanitarian effort. Some of our tasks included guarding food convoys, conducting patrols, search and seizure of weapons and security of the city.”
Lloyd was discharged in 1994.
Lloyd lives in Merrillan and works at Nelson Global Products in Black River Falls where he is a quality supervisor. He is also a volunteer for the Merrillan Fire Department.
Lloyd us divorced and has three daughters – Fawn, Mikayla and Caylee.
He has several hobbies, but the one he said he enjoys the most is fishing.
Lloyd will be honored along with Edwin Sr. and Don Quicker on June 3 at the Neillsville Legion Post, 6 Boon Boulevard. There will be a social hour at 4:30 p.m. and a potluck at 5:30 p. m.
