Catharine's sons were known to have actually served in the U.S. military (and collected U.S. Government pensions).
Philip H. Boyer
2D LT. 1 REGT.
2 Brigade
Utah Territory Militia
Indian Wars
John Sell Boyer
Captain of Company B
Infantry 2nd Battalion, 2nd Division Utah Territory Militia
Black Hawk War
Francis Christian Boyer
1st Lieutenant
Black Hawk War
The husbands of Catharine's daughters, Lydia, Emma, and Mariah, were also known to have served in the Black Hawk Indian Wars of 1856.
Don Carlos Johnson
William Clark Huntington
Bugler
Richard Mendenhall
In addition, two of Catharine and Augustus Sell Boyer's nephews (sons of Henry Sell Boyer) were known to have served the Union during the Rebellion (Civil War) for the state of Pennsylvania.
Francis A. Boyer Jr.
William Meyers Boyer
This information makes us wonder... How many of Catharine's descendants have served or are serving in the Military? Thus far we've been notified of the following [all descendants of Catharine's son, John Sell].
Richard Mack Boyer
Infantry Sargent
WW II
Justin Grant Boyer
Transportation Specialist
Afghanistan
CW2 Travis Lee Boyer
Apache Helicopter Pilot
Afghanistan
Adam Nicholas Peck
Airforce
Guam
We're quite sure there's more! Help us update this list so we can honor this part of Catharine's legacy as well! All you have to do is post the information to the comment page below. We'll compile the list from there. Spread the word!!! The more complete this list is, the better.
Harlan William Boyer, of 707 S. 400 E. Springville, is the son of Myron Augustus Boyer, also of Springville. Harlan was born January 4, 1900 (I could be wrong on the exact day). After High School, at the age of 18, Harlan was in the US Army in 1918. I do not know whether he enlisted or was drafted. Harlan never went farther than Provo, however, as this is where he was posted when he fell ill to the famous Spanish Flu that killed millions that year. He recovered after WWI ended.
ReplyDeleteHis first son, Kenneth Harlan Boyer (my father) joined the Navy after High School. Ken trained as a tailgunner on a TBM (torpedo bomber). He said he was chosen to shoot because of his excellent marksmanship - a skill he developed in Hobble Creek Canyon, where he did a lot of shooting as a youth.
I do not know when Ken joined the Navy, but he was training for some time. Part of his training took place over the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of Florida.
As an odd side-note, in 1945 an entire squadron of 9 TBMs was lost at sea. They were training over the Atlantic, in the area in which Ken had just completed his training. Their squadron and training leader was Ken's former squadron and training leader. Ken had just graduated from that training.
As hazardous as military training can be, that was as hazardous as it got for Ken. He was preparing to invade Japan, when atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and Japan surrendered. So Ken and Harlan were both enlisted and ready to serve. But neither father nor son ever saw battle.
Incidentally, Ken came home with a love for flying. He obtained his private pilot's license in a Piper Super Cub, and became a mechanic, then engineer for United Airlines, where he worked for ~35 years.