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name
BOLAND, John Osmond "Todd" - Date of
birth
15 November 1914 -
Age
30 - Place of
birth
Pennsylvania -
Hometown
Scranton, Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania
Personal info
Military service
- Service
number
O-1328004 -
Rank
First Lieutenant -
Function
Platoon Commander -
Unit
G Company,
2nd Battalion,
9th Infantry Regiment,
2nd Infantry Division
-
Awards
Distinguished Service Cross,
Purple Heart
Death
-
Status
Killed in Action - Date of
death
14 April 1945 - Place of
death
Blösien, Near Merseburg, Germany
Grave
-
Cemetery
American War Cemetery Margraten
| Plot | Row | Grave |
|---|---|---|
| I | 14 | 14 |
Immediate family
-
Members
William P. Boland (father)
Lucinda P. (Osmond) Boland (mother)
William P. Boland Jr. (brother)
James Boland (brother)
Lucy Boland (sister)
Dorothy Boland (sister)
Mary Boland (sister)
Florence W. (Emperor) Boland (wife)
More information
1st Lt John O. Boland graduated from Central High School in 1932 and from Valley Forge Military Academy in 1934. He served with the Pennsylvania State Police for several years and was employed at the Department of Justice, Naturalization and Immigration Service in Florida.He enlisted on 11 December 1943 in Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania and was commissioned at Fort Benning, Georgia on 28 November 1944. He was sent overseas in January 1945.
Lt Boland was posthumously awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for extraordinary heroism in connection with military operations against the enemy on 14 April 1945. The citation reads in part: As Platoon Leader with Company G, 9th Infantry Regiment, he led his platoon under heavy enemy machine gun and rifle fire in assaulting enemy positions in Blosien. He knocked out one enemy machine gun nest and killed and captured several riflemen. While directing his platoon on two other machine gun nests, he was fired on by a third and killed by a shot in the head. It was through Lt Boland's exemplary and aggressive actions that the battalion was able to continue its advance later on the same day"
Lt Boland is remembered at St. Catherine's Cemetery in Moscow, Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania with a memorial marker.
Source of information: Terry Hirsch, Family Boland, Scrantonian Tribune 10 December 1944
Photo source: www.findagrave.com - Des Philippet / Sherry, Anna M. Punt, John Odekerken, The Times-Tribune - 14 April 1965