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| Sgt. Eber Boden survived the Bataan Death March only to die as a POW. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/59570136 https://www.pinterest.com/pin/570901690244346722/ |
Eber L. Boden never had a chance to reach 100 years old today. Instead, he sacrificed his life for our freedom.
He was born on December 26, 1917 in Oklahoma. His mother Marguerita was born in Nebraska and his father Charles was born in Kansas. His father worked as a farmer. Eber had an older brother, five younger brothers, and a younger sister. By 1940 Eber, known as Eb to his family, had completed four years of high school and was working on the family farm. He enjoyed writing poetry.
He enlisted in the army on March 23, 1941. He was trained as a tank mechanic. He became a Tech 5 in Company D, 192nd Tank Battalion which was a National Guard unit that was federalized and sent to the Philippines, arriving on November 20, 1941. The men were given a Thanksgiving dinner upon arriving at Clark Field. They watched helplessly as a Japanese air attack on December 8, 1941 destroyed nearly all the planes parked on the field. For the next four months Sgt. Boden helped keep the tanks running in the doomed attempt to hold off the Japanese attacks on the Bataan Peninsula.
After being captured, Sgt. Boden survived the Bataan Death March and ended up at Camp O'Donnell. With only one water source for 12,000 men, the camp lost up to 50 men per day from diseases. Sgt. Boden lasted until November. On the anniversary of his arrival in the Philippines, Sgt. Boden awoke with a fever. He lasted a couple of days before dying from pneumonia on November 22, 1942.
Four days later his family no doubt spent the first fourth-Thursday-of-November Thanksgiving, created by Congress the year before, praying and hoping for Eber's safe return. It was most likely not until December or perhaps much later that they received the telegram notifying them of Eber's death.
At least three of his six brothers served in the military: one in the Navy during World War 2, one in the Air Force in the Korean War, and one in Navy in the Vietnam War (and buried at sea in 1967).
His grave is at Oakwood Memorial Cemetery in Oakwood, Oklahoma.
On behalf of the fallen, if you would like to see more people become aware of this project to honor the WW2 fallen, be sure to share with others on Twitter, Facebook, etc. Thanks for your interest!
I created this video to explain why I started this project: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXt8QA481lY.
Join the public Facebook group WW2 Fallen 100
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