William Francis Boyd

By 27 February 1945, almost every front-line Marine unit had suffered severe casualties and struggling to fill the gaps. Each Division had two “replacement drafts” of several thousand Marines who, at least on paper, were ready to integrate into any unit at any time. In reality, the replacements were a hodgepodge – some highly-trained specialists, others barely out of boot camp and unable to handle anything other than a rifle. None had ever trained with or gotten accustomed to a combat division, and as a result, many replacements became casualties shortly after joining a new unit.

The Fifth Marine Division sent out groups of replacements to its front-line units on 27 February, including the regiment occupying Target Area 198 Oboe. One of the replacements in the area was Private William “Bill” Boyd. At thirty-six, he was unusually old for an enlisted Marine – and unusually well-educated, having graduated from The Citadel in 1931. He built a career in printing, working at his uncle’s press in Asheville, North Carolina until taking over the establishment in the early 1940s. Being drafted into service meant leaving his business, his wife, and his eleven-year-old daughter behind. He finished boot camp, a few weeks of advanced infantry training, and was assigned to the 31st Replacement Draft in October 1944.

The replacements were digging in for the night when an unearthly howling sounded behind enemy lines. A large Japanese rocket came screaming in and detonated almost on top of Private Boyd’s foxhole. “His remains were beyond recognition and could not be identified,” reported eyewitnesses. So little time passed between his arrival and his death that Bill Boyd was not taken up on the rolls of any front-line company or battalion. The Replacement Draft noted his transfer to the 28th Marines and heard nothing more; for a time, Boyd was listed as missing in action, and this information was passed to his next of kin. His status was updated to killed in action in May 1945.