Henry Joseph Boye Jr.

Henry J. Boye Jr. served as an 0331 in the Marine Corps, and reached the rank of PFC/E2. He was slightly wounded in the fighting on Hill 881 on May 21, 1968.

On May 31, 1968, at the age of 19, Henry Joseph Boye Jr. perished in the service of our country in South Vietnam, Quang Tri. He was brought home, and was buried at Beverly National Cemetery in Beverly NJ on June 14, 1968.

PRIVATE FIRST CLASS HENRY JOSEPH BOYE JR. was born to Sarah Elizabeth Parkinson Boye and Henry Joseph Boye, Sr. on June 26, 1949He lived with his parents at 2109 Erial Road in Pine Hill NJ.  He was their first child and was followed by two brothers and a sister. Henry, Hank to his friends, spent his childhood playing organized sports such as football and baseball with various township teams. He was a better than average athlete and turned out to be a talented starting third baseman for his high school team � the Overbrook Regional Rams. He also played football for Overbrook Regional High School. 

Always the practical joker, he was responsible for many gray hairs of the teachers who taught him. Henry was a decent student in school, but definitely took more joy in his friends and shop class rather than academics. He loved to work and tinker with cars, as did many of his friends. His pride and joy was a white �65 Mustang that he bought his senior year of high school.

Henry graduated from Overbrook Regional High School in June 1967. After graduation, he worked at various jobs, becoming a butcher�s apprentice in the summer. In November of 1967, he enlisted in the US Marine Corps and went off to Boot Camp and finally off to Vietnam early in 1968, attaining the rank of Private First Class.

He was only there four months when he was wounded. He wrote to the family and told us how lucky he was to have received superficial cuts from shrapnel. On May 31, 1968, less than a month after receiving his letter telling of his luck, Henry was killed in action in Quang Tri Province, Vietnam. He was one month from his nineteenth birthday. His death occurred during the Tet Offensive, a major insurgence of North Vietnam to South Vietnam.

Henry was awarded the Purple Heart, as well as several medals from the Vietnamese government. He left behind a mother, father, two brothers, a sister, and many friends.

***

June 6, 1968

Remembrances
The following remembrances have been left at
The Virtual Wall
for
HENRY JOSEPH BOYE JR.

HENRY JOSEPH BOYE JR.
is honored on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial
on Panel 62W, Row 5.

MESSAGES LEFT ON THEWALL-USA (as of 2/28/09)

** Note that some of these messages are from years ago
and their contact information may not be good anymore **