Francis M. Boyle
First Lieutenant, U.S. Army Air Forces

On 5 May 1944, First Lieutenant Francis M. Boyle was serving with the 727th Bombardment Squadron, 451st Bombardment Group (Heavy), Fifteenth Air Force.

On that day, 1LT Boyle was a member of the crew of a B-24 Liberator Bomber while participating in a bombing mission against enemy ground targets in the Mediterranean Theater of Operation. 1LT Boyle's courageous actions and extraordinary heroism that day, at the cost of his life, earned him the U.S. Army's second highest award for valor, the Distinguished Service Cross.

Medals, Awards and Badges *

Distinguished Service Cross
Distinguished Flying Cross
Purple Heart
Air Medal with Award Numeral 2 American Campaign Medal
European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal
World War II Victory Medal

[* As a crew member he would have earned an Army Air Forces badge (wings), but his position on the crew is not stated. His badge could have been that of a Pilot, Navigator or Bombardier.]

Distinguished Service Cross Citation (Synopsis)

First Lieutenant (Air Corps) Francis M. Boyle (ASN: 0-747197), United States Army Air Forces, was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross (Posthumously) for extraordinary heroism in connection with military operations against an armed enemy while serving as Member of the Crew of a B-24 Heavy Bomber in the 727th Bombardment Squadron, 451st Bombardment Group (H), FIFTEENTH Air Force, while participating in a bombing mission on 5 May 1944, against enemy ground targets in the Mediterranean Theater of Operation. The personal courage and zealous devotion to duty displayed by First Lieutenant Boyle on this occasion, at the cost of his life, have upheld the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit upon himself, the 15th Air Force, and the United States Army Air Forces.

General Orders: Headquarters, U.S. Army Air Forces-Mediterranean Theater of Operations, General Orders No. 59 (1944)

Burial

First Lieutenant Francis M. Boyle is buried at the Lorraine American Cemetery and Memorial in Saint-Avold, Departement de la Moselle, Lorraine, France in Plot E, Row 16, Grave 23.