I
never knew my cousin Boge. His real name was Philip Neil Farmer, but
everyone called him Boge. They still do to this day. He was a good
ole’ country boy, son to Doug and Nan, and lived out on SR 1 in
Guilford. And…he was a war hero.
I
never realized this until I started researching my family tree. My
brother and sister are much older than I am (18 years and 16 years)
respectively so I did not grow up with the same set of cousins and
family that they did. (They keep saying Mom and Dad had a surprise when
I came along…I just say my folks kept trying till they finally reached
perfection.) Boge was born October 4, 1931, and after high school
enlisted in the army, serving in both the Korean and Vietnam Conflicts.
It was April 11, 1969. Boge and his company, Troop B, 1st Squadron, 1st Cavalry Regiment, Americal Division, was on a search and clear mission near the village of Bao Binh Ha. They were ambushed by hostile troops. SFC Farmer crawled 75 meters back to his vehicle through open rice paddies. He received wounds in his right arm from enemy snipers. Although wounded, he directed three tanks in an assault which over ran the communist stronghold.
Enemy fire soon erupted from a secondary location armed with antitank rounds, wounding or killing the entire crew of the lead vehicle. Leaving the safety of his own tank, Sergeant Farmer crossed the rice paddies again to assist the injured in the other vehicle. He climbed into the disable ‘track’ (tank) and started firing on the enemy when a rocket-propelled grenade struck the gun shield of his weapon, wounding him fatally. He left behind a wife and son, mother and father, sisters, brothers, cousins and friends who loved him dearly.
In his 38 short years, Boge earned 2 Silver Stars, 4 Bronze Stars, 2 Purple Hearts and the Distinguished Service Cross (awarded posthumously). They also dedicated the “Farmer Tank Park” in his honor at Ft. Knox, Kentucky. Like I said, he was a war hero.
One of my main drives and passions in genealogy is to make sure that people are remembered and not forgotten. As long as their stories and memories are passed down, told and retold, our ancestors will live on. This is especially true of the countless hundreds of thousands of men, women and, yes, children, who played roles in our military history. Whether they gave comfort to the wounded, prayed over the dead, lost limbs or their grasp on reality, or paid the ultimate price for freedom, they are just as important as Boge and the other highly decorated heroes.
My family is a military family. My dad and several uncles served in WWII. I had cousins who have served in Desert Storm, and Vietnam and Korea, each and every one of them wishing they were home in bed, but fulfilling, what they felt was, their duty to the land that gave them a home and a chance to succeed. My grandfather-in-law (is that a real word – well it is now, I guess) served with General Pershing in France in the war to end all wars, WWI. And both my husband I have several ancestors who fought for the blue or the gray, and in one case, fought against each other in the same battle.
I know that this blog can be considered too early to celebrate Veterans Day which is next month. I guess what I am saying is that every day should be Veterans Day, because without the brave, scared, and lonely men and women who have served this country, I would not have the freedom to write this.
Do your part. Find a veteran in your past and learn their story. Then pass it on so they are not forgotten and did not sacrifice in vain.
It was April 11, 1969. Boge and his company, Troop B, 1st Squadron, 1st Cavalry Regiment, Americal Division, was on a search and clear mission near the village of Bao Binh Ha. They were ambushed by hostile troops. SFC Farmer crawled 75 meters back to his vehicle through open rice paddies. He received wounds in his right arm from enemy snipers. Although wounded, he directed three tanks in an assault which over ran the communist stronghold.
Enemy fire soon erupted from a secondary location armed with antitank rounds, wounding or killing the entire crew of the lead vehicle. Leaving the safety of his own tank, Sergeant Farmer crossed the rice paddies again to assist the injured in the other vehicle. He climbed into the disable ‘track’ (tank) and started firing on the enemy when a rocket-propelled grenade struck the gun shield of his weapon, wounding him fatally. He left behind a wife and son, mother and father, sisters, brothers, cousins and friends who loved him dearly.
In his 38 short years, Boge earned 2 Silver Stars, 4 Bronze Stars, 2 Purple Hearts and the Distinguished Service Cross (awarded posthumously). They also dedicated the “Farmer Tank Park” in his honor at Ft. Knox, Kentucky. Like I said, he was a war hero.
One of my main drives and passions in genealogy is to make sure that people are remembered and not forgotten. As long as their stories and memories are passed down, told and retold, our ancestors will live on. This is especially true of the countless hundreds of thousands of men, women and, yes, children, who played roles in our military history. Whether they gave comfort to the wounded, prayed over the dead, lost limbs or their grasp on reality, or paid the ultimate price for freedom, they are just as important as Boge and the other highly decorated heroes.
My family is a military family. My dad and several uncles served in WWII. I had cousins who have served in Desert Storm, and Vietnam and Korea, each and every one of them wishing they were home in bed, but fulfilling, what they felt was, their duty to the land that gave them a home and a chance to succeed. My grandfather-in-law (is that a real word – well it is now, I guess) served with General Pershing in France in the war to end all wars, WWI. And both my husband I have several ancestors who fought for the blue or the gray, and in one case, fought against each other in the same battle.
I know that this blog can be considered too early to celebrate Veterans Day which is next month. I guess what I am saying is that every day should be Veterans Day, because without the brave, scared, and lonely men and women who have served this country, I would not have the freedom to write this.
Do your part. Find a veteran in your past and learn their story. Then pass it on so they are not forgotten and did not sacrifice in vain.
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