At age 92, William James Lloyd decided to write down stories from the old days in rural Montana, experiences from his time in the Navy, and family tales. Lloyd had traveled expensively during his lifetime, but his heart was firmly entrenched in the little town of Rosebud, Montana. He loved to tell the every day stories of real people and real happenings, sometimes happy and often heartwrenchingly poignant. The stories are written in the vernacular of the day and not always politically correct. In "those days" folks were down to earth, tough, patriotic and resilient. "Bill" Lloyd was exactly that type of man.
About the Author: William J. Lloyd, 97, a retired U.S. Navy officer, died Sunday, April 5th, 2009 at the Rosebud Health Care Center in Forsyth. Bill, as most knew him, was born in Rosebud on July 29th, 1911, the son of Albert and Katherine Lloyd. He spent his youth and attended school there in the little town along the Yellowstone, graduating in 1929. He worked a year on ranches and farms in the valley, waiting for his younger brother Jack to graduate; then they both enlisted in the Navy. Both easily adapted to the service and made a career of it. On September 19th, .1940, he married his high school sweetheart, Winnifred Septima Jaastad, and she waited for him in Norfolk, Virginia, as he served first with the Sixth Fleet in the South Pacific theatre in the Philippines; then, as the war escalated, with the' USN Anti-Submarine Command stationed at Belem, Brazil, in the Atlantic, where the U-boats were creating havoc with the Atlantic Convoys to embattled Europe. His air group was instrumental in the sinking of several of the German raiders, with the loss of some of their own planes. It was there that he was promoted to officer status. It was there, too, that he became the 6th-Fleet's light heavyweight champion, knocking his opponent, the former champ, out in six rounds. Later, he served aboard a ship in the evacuation of North Korea's civilian populace who were lucky enough to escape from the Communists who had taken over the country. This preceded the Korean Conflict of the early 1950s. Years later, when the Communists over-ran North Vietnam, the U.S. Navy helped evacuate the civilian populace who were escaping from the brutal takeover. After World War II, he was sent to bases in the Marianas Islands, Tennessee, Washington, Oregon, Florida and Alaska. In each case, his growing family followed him. In 1955, he retired from the Navy while stationed in San Diego after achieving the rank of Lieutenant Commander, quite an achievement for a Rosebud boy with only a high school education! He returned with his family to Montana, where his heart had always been. He returned to Rosebud, where he purchased a small acreage that included the distinctive two-story, brick house. There, he and his family lived during his last fifty years.