Buried at the Normandy American Cemetery, Colleville-sur-Mer, France, C, 21, 32.
Member of Co. I, 3rd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division; likely killed in the fighting for Carentan.
John Boggs was born in Little Fork, Elliott County, Kentucky on 6 August 1919. His father died the next year (1920) and his mother remarried. The family moved to Johnson City, Washington County, Tennessee, the place John called home. He was working for the Miller Brother’s Lumber Company here when he enlisted in the United States Army on 22 September 1942 at Camp Forrest in Tullahoma, Tennessee.
He completed Basic Training at Camp Forrest and then volunteered for Airborne (Paratrooper) Duty. John was dispatched to Camp Toccoa, Georgia, where he would be assigned to Company I, 3rd Battalion of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment. This is where they earned their nickname: Currahees, after the camp’s Currahee Mountain. Paratroopers in training ran from Camp Toccoa up Currahee Mountain and back with the shout “three miles up, three miles down!”. The Cherokee word translates to “Stand Alone,”which became the unit’s motto. Members of the unit wore the spade (♠) symbol on their helmets and the Screaming Eagle patch (indicating membership in the 101st Airborne Division) on the left sleeve. Its first commanding officer was Colonel Robert F. Sink, and the 506th was sometimes referred to as the “Five-Oh-Sink”. On 10 June 1943, the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment officially became part of the 101st Airborne Division, commanded by Major General William Lee, the “father of the United States Army Airborne”…
John was the son of Henderson Sherman Boggs, Senior and Susan Mosley. He was married to Mary Louise Brien. They were wed shortly before he left for the war. John’s twin brother: Henderson Sherman Boggs, Junior also served in the United States Army during World War II.
Submitted by Allen D. Jackson USAF (Ret)
- Rank: Private First Class
- Date of birth: 6 August 1919
- Date of death: 10 June 1944
- County: Washington
- Hometown: Johnson City
- Service Branch: Army/Army Air Forces
- Division/Assignment: 506th Parachute Infantry Regt, 101st Airborne Division
- Theater: Europe
- Conflict: World War II
- Battles: Normandy Campaign
- Awards: Purple Heart
- Burial/Memorial Location: Normandy American Cemetery, Colleville-sur-Mer, France
- Location In Memorial: Pillar XIX, Middle Panel
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