boyd_jamespatrick_stories

  

 

JAMES PATRICK BOYD
Son of Samuel Perry & Ethel PARKS BOYD
 

Sweetwater Reporter Monday July 1, 1991  pg 3

Gilroy, Calif. --- James P. Boyd, 73, of Gilroy died Saturday.
               
                Services will be at 9:30 a.m. PDT at Habing Family Funeral Home in Gilroy with a funeral mass at 10 a.m. PDT at St. Mary's  Church.  Burial will be private.

                Mr. Boyd was a native of Texas and had lived in Gilroy for 45 years.  He was a retired farmer and businessman.

                A veteran of World War II, he was awarded several medals for his service in the guerilla forces in the Philippines, including two  Oak Leaf Clusters, two Bronze Stars, the Prisoner of War Medal and the Purple Heart.  He was inducted into the Army Ordnance  Hall of Fame for his meritorious conduct in a ceremony held May 21, 1990 at Fort Ord.  He was a life member of American Legion  Post 669, Veterans of Foreign Wars, Disabled American Veterans and American Defenders of Bataan and Corregidor.

                Survivors include his wife of 45 years, Eva Boyd of Gilroy, two sons, Patrick Boyd and Casey Boyd, both of Gilroy; a daughter  and son-in-law, Becky and Monte Lorenzet of Cupertino, Calif.; a grandson, Patrick Boyd of Los Altos, Calif.; three sisters, Iona  Adams of Oxnard, Calif., Jesse Lee Campbell of El Paso and Melva Weideman of Sweetwater; two brothers, Robert Boyd of  Dallas and Vivian Boyd of Sweetwater, and many nieces and nephews.

                Memorials may be made to the VA Hospice of Gilroy or the American Diabetes Society.
 
 _____________________________

 
The Dispatch-Friday June 3, 1994
LIFE OF LOCAL WAR HERO WAS ONE TO REMEMBER
 
 As major events of World War II draw near to the 50th anniversary this month, we take a look back at one of Gilroy'd heros,  James Patrick Boyd.


 Although James Boyd spent only the last 45 of his74 years in Gilroy, his contributions to the war effort are worth remembering.   

Here is his story.
 

James Patrick Boyd was born in Sweetwater, Texas on Oct. 21, 1917.  He was the son of Samuel and Ethel Parks Boyd.  He  attended public school in Sweetwater, graduating from Sweetwater High School in the mid-1930's.He enlisted in the Army and  was trained as a tank and artillery specialist.  He attained the rank of sergeant in the 17th Armored Ordnance company on Luzon  Island in the Philippines.


 After the attack on Pearl Harbor, a tank group was deployed into the Luzon province in the Philippines.  The group was preparing  for battle when they found themselves facing a Japanese force that had high-explosive ammunition.  Boyd and other armament  mechanics modified over 1,000 rounds of ammunition for the guns on the tanks to put the group on an equal footing with the  opposition.

 
 When Major General Edward P. King surrendered his troops to the Japanese on April 9, 1942, Boyd managed to escape the  infamous Bataan death march.  The prisoners of war were to report to an enemy compound and Jim Boyd simply told his  company commander he wasn't going.
 He had spent only one day as a prisoner of war when he and six others escaped into the jungle.  For 1,027 days, nearly three  years, Boyd lived in the jungle, traveling on and off with a band of Filipino guerrilla fighters.  He survived by foraging and using  almost anything that walked, swam, or flew as food.


 While in the jungle he found weapons, ammunition, and medical supplies abandoned by surrendering American soldiers, which  he carefully hid.  When the Philippines were retaken in 1944, Boyd led a 15-man guerrilla detachment back to Bataan to recover  the crucial supplies.  He also provided detailed information about enemy movements to Army intelligence.  For his efforts,  James Boyd received two Oak Leaf Clusters, two Bronze Stars, and a Purple Heart along with 10 citations.


 After his ordeal in the jungle, Jim Boyd weighed on 110 pounds and was sent to a hospital in Van Nuys to recover from severe  malnutrition.  Here he met Eva Mondelli, a Gilroy girl, who would become his wife.  They returned to her hometown following the  war.  Here Boyd raised prunes for many years before becoming a Richfield Oil Distributor in 1955.

 
 The Boyds had three children, two sons, Patrick and Casey and one daughter, Becky.  He was a member of the Sun sweet Prune  Growers Association for 14 years and served as President of the Santa Clara County Memorial Veterans District for 21 years.  He  was also a life member of American Legion Post 669, Veterans of Foreign Wars, Disabled American Veterans, and American  Defenders of Bataan Corregidor, as well as being a member of the Gilroy Elks Lodge.
 
 James Boyd's endeavors during World War II were again recognized on Veteran's Day in 1988 when he received a Prisoner of  War medal.  On May 21, 1990 at a ceremony held at Ford Ord Jim Boyd was inducted into the Army Ordnance Hall of Fame, the  only enlisted man admitted that year.  He was recognized for his achievements as a tank and artillery specialist and his efforts  while fighting underground in the jungles with the guerrillas.  James Patrick Boyd passed away in Gilroy on June 29, 1991.
 
 As we observe the 50th anniversary of World War II and honor those who served in Europe and the Pacific as well as here at  home, let us remember also those Gilroyans whose contributions, both great and small, have kept us free.
 

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