Raymond Hallar Bolin was the son of Raymond Howard Bolin and Susan Anderson.
Buried now at the Brittany American Cemetery, St. James (Manche), France
J, 5, 9
Individual Deceased Personnel File Report:
“37. Bolin, Raymond H., ASN 11998332, Pvt., 508 Parachute Inf., Killed by small arms fire 6/7/44 near Le Mesnil-Vigot, France, buried at Le Mesnil-Vigot, France. Witness: Hoskot, N.R. , 0-302774, Lt. Col., 2nd Airborne Infantry Brigade.”
6. “Upon repatriation, Lieutenant Colonel Nathaniel R. Hoskot, O-302774, the witness referred to above, made the following statement concerning subject personnel to Captain (then lieutenant) Harry V. Blair, Casualty Brench, AGO, at Walter Reed Hospital, 25 January 1945:
I was with the 82nd Airborne Division and was captured with a number of paratroopers behind the German Lines on 6 June 1944.
The next day, 7 June 1944, we were being transported in 10 German trucks when our column was strafed by American planes.
The following men were killed by the strafing: (names 18 including Raymond H. Bolin).
“AG 704 Dead (28 Feb 45)
The above named men are buried in the village cemetery in a mass grave at Le Mesnil-Vigot, Dept. of Manche, Normandy, France. I read the services at the burial. The French dug the graves and the mayor of the town told me they would mark the grave with a cross. I gave him the name of each man or one of the dog tags.”
There is further testimony about the incident and a later order by the U.S. Army to change the date of death of these men from June 6, 1944 to June 7, 1944 and listed as “killed in action” and “while in parachute pay status.”
The Tennessean, 24 October 1944
Under the heading of “Killed in Action” in an East Tennessee paper last week was “Pfc. Raymond Bolin.”To most people who read it, Bolin was just another unfortunate American who had lost his life defending the principles for which the Allies are fighting all over the word. But to hundreds of Golden Gloves fans and those of us who knew Raymond Bolin it meant much more. Bolin was a young man who had come up the hard way, but one who never forgot the meaning of the word “Sportsmanship.”He was a skinny little tyke when we first saw him which was in 1933, the year the Tennessean introduced the Golden Gloves to Dixie. He was a student at Tennessee Industrial School and he loved fighting. Raymond was too young to take part in that first Golden Gloves tournament, but he completed the following year. He was chosen the outstanding sportman int he 1934 meet and was awarded a watch. Since that time Bolin saw a lot of the world. He served a hitch in the U.S. Navy and was one of the American sailors selected to go to London for the coronation of King George VI.
In 1940 he joined the Royal Canadian Air Force and when the United States entered the war he was shifted from the Canadian Air Force to the U.S. Army Air Forces. Bolin was stationed at the Smyrna Army Air Field for several months. He was attached to the special services offices. That was too calm and quiet for him. He wanted action. He asked that he be transferred to the paratroopers. That took place late in the summer of 1943. He went overseas shortly after the first of the year. Raymond was a young man with great courage, one who never knew fear. And he believed in American-way sportsmanship to the end.
Profile picture was taken at the Golden Gloves in 1935.
- Rank: Private
- Date of birth: 23 February 1919
- Date of death: 7 June 1944
- County: Jefferson
- Hometown: Strawberry Plains
- Service Branch: Army/Army Air Forces
- Division/Assignment: 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division
- Theater: Europe
- Conflict: World War II
- Battles: Normandy Campaign
- Awards: Purple Heart
- Burial/Memorial Location: Brittany American Cemetery, St. James (Manche), France
- Location In Memorial: Pillar XII, Middle Panel
- Contact us to sponsor Raymond H. Bolin
Image Gallery
Click a thumbnail below to view at full size.
