Paul Harvey Boland

Paul Boland enlisted in the Marine Corps the day after Pearl Harbor, and trained as an aerographer at Lakehurst, New Jersey. He distinguished himself by scoring perfect marks on the entry exam – the first student to do so – and graduated at the top of his class. Boland went on to lead his cadet class at UNC Chapel Hill, serve as cadet commander during primary flight school, and earned top marks in basic and advanced flight training at Corpus Christi. He earned his wings and commission on 1 September 1943, and was assigned to duty with a torpedo bomber squadron in Jacksonville, Florida.

After participating in several anti-submarine patrols, Lieutenant Boland transferred to Marine Base Defense Air Group (MBDAG) 42 in San Diego, California. On 1 February 1944, he volunteered to join VMF-123 – a veteran fighter squadron back from the Pacific to retrain and reequip with powerful Corsair-model fighters. Boland, who was accustomed to flying a much larger TBF Avenger, admitted that the fast Corsair was a difficult transition.

On 10 February 1944, Boland was on a routine training flight in FG-1 BuNo 13303. At 1305 hours, his aircraft plunged into the sea 500 yards offshore of Surf, California, and sank in 13 fathoms of water. A rescue boat and diving team arrived soon after, but were unable to locate pilot or plane. Boland was determined to have died instantly in the crash.