March 25 is Medal of Honor Day. Last year Willow Avenue fourth-graders and Butterhill preschoolers were part of the audience for a brief ceremony at the monument on Main Street in Cornwall. The kids from Willow had a reason for being there. First Lieutenant George Boyce, a Medal of Honor recipient, had attended school in their building. A plaque near the principal’s office recalls his heroism.
Thirty years ago Congress selected March 25 as the date to remember recipients of the Medal of Honor — the highest award given to a member of the military.
The date is significant. During the Civil War, Secretary of War Edward M. Stanton presented the first Medals of Honor on March 25, 1863 to surviving members of Andrews Raiders.
A year earlier they had commandeered a railroad train in a bloodless hijacking in Tennessee. Having dressed as civilians when they boarded the train, they sprang into action when the crew and passengers got off to have lunch. There were no dining cars in those days.
As the train emptied, the Raiders drove it away — with some officials pursuing them on foot. The hijackers escaped and as their journey continued, they damaged the tracks behind them. The idea was to keep the Confederate Army from using the railroad to deliver supplies and munitions to Chatanooga.
The trek ended after 90 miles when the engine broke down and the Raiders were captured. Some were executed, a few escaped, and five were freed during a prisoner exchange. The latter group received Medals of Honor from Secretary Stanton and were escorted to the White House to meet President Lincoln.
Lieutenat Boyce (1916-44) lived in Cornwall and went to school when the building on Willow Avenue included students in all 12 grades. He was leading a platoon through the jungles of New Guinea when a grenade landed near the men in his command. He saved their lives by using his body to smother the grenade.
A year later, he received the award posthumously and a Navy vessel was named in his honor. He is one of four men recognized on a monument on Main Street in Cornwall. The others served in the Union Army during the Civil War.
American Legion Post 353 unveiled the monument on Oct. 18, 2014 and began its Medal of Honor observances during the following spring. Post Commander Peter Kurpeawski suggested the following ways to keep the day from being forgotten:
-Fly your flags
-Mail thank you cards to living Medal of Honor recipients
-Write letters of appreciation to the newspapers
-Decorate the graves of Medal of Honor recipients
After graduating from Cornwall High School, and before entering the military, Lieutenant Boyce worked in the insurance industry. His father and his sister are buried in the Pleasant Hill Cemetery in Mountainville.
