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| PFC John Boyle was serving with the 9th Infantry Division in Germany during February 1945. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/130319349/john-h.-boyle https://www.pinterest.com/pin/674273375430143437/?lp=true |
John H. Boyle never had a chance to reach 100 years old. Instead, he sacrificed his life for our freedom.
Last year I was not able to write a profile everyday from September to November because I was studying for the Certified Financial Planner test (I passed!). I feel my project to honor one U.S. serviceman for each day of the war would be incomplete if I left them off. As I have time, I am going back and adding profiles for the days I missed.
John was born on September 3, 1918 in Ohio. His parents James and Emma were also both born in Ohio. His father worked as a roundhouse shipping clerk. Later he was a round house helper for the New York Central Railroad. John had two younger brothers and two younger sisters. By 1940 John had completed four years of high school and was working as a butcher. He was married to the former Josephine Saso and they were living with her parents. They had a boy and a girl.
He was drafted into the army on April 4, 1944. He became a private first class and became a replacement assigned to Company B, 1st Battalion, 39th Infantry Regiment, 9th Infantry Division.
The 9th ID was one of the first American units to see action. It fought in North Africa and Sicily and arrived in Normandy on D+4. By the fall it was sent to the heavy fighting in the Hurtgen Forest. It was next assigned to what was expected to be a quiet area of the front in the Ardennes Forest, only to be involved fighting back the first German attacks in the Battle of the Bulge. During the war the 9th ID suffered an incredible 150% battle casualties, meaning it need to replace more than 23,000 killed and wounded.
PFC Boyle probably joined his unit just before the Battle of the Bulge. He survived the fighting and moved into The Roer area of Germany in early February. On February 9, 1945 someone in his platoon shot a deer. Because he was a butcher, PFC Boyle left his fox hole to help dress out the deer. He was immediately hit and died. Shortly thereafter the mail call delivered two Christmas cards from his small children.
His grave is at St Joseph Cemetery in Ashtabula, Ohio. His widow never remarried and died in 2006.
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.
Please consider joining the public Facebook group to increase the exposure of this project. Go to: WW2 Fallen 100
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