A special ceremony was held in Stafford County, Virginia, Friday to honor two brothers who died while serving in World War II.
Marshal Boutchyard, a distant cousin of Cpl. Mercer Boutchyard and Pfc. Marvin Boutchyard, attended the memorial ceremony to pay tribute to them. Because of the ceremony, he and another relative, Darien Boutchyard, were able to complete the story of their relatives’ service.
Pfc. Boutchyard was stationed in Europe and was part of the D-Day invasion. He was one of 30 in a company of 65 that survived after making it across the beach.
“Not only did they make it up the beach and rappelled up the cliffs, they freed two or three more towns just in the first day,” Stafford Community Engagement Director Shannon Eubanks said.
Unfortunately, Pfc. Boutchyard died a week later from wounds he suffered.
A year later in the Pacific Theater, Cpl. Boutchyard died from wounds suffered in the battle of Okinawa.
Eubanks helped create the memorial with names of fallen veterans and decided to research more about the Boutchyard family after visiting the Normandy American Cemetery in France and spotting the name on a grave.
“I saw a very unusual name, Marvin Boutchyard, which I knew was in our memorial. I quickly looked it up and googled, and sure enough, it was our Marvin,” Eubanks said. “Immediately, I knew we have to do something to tell his story.”
Marshal Boutchyard, who is in the Army National Guard, is preparing to deploy this summer. As he’s out of the country, he plans to keep the story of his relatives alive.
“I take pride in the fact that we have people who are willing to lay down everything for the cause and the good deed,” he said.
