In memoriam: Henry "Duke" Boswell, WWII hero, Westside resident/teacher

In memoriam: Henry "Duke" Boswell, WWII hero, Westside resident/teacher

Retired Army Major Henry "Duke" Boswell, in a photo taken outside his Pioneer Park house in 2009.

Westside Pioneer file photo

Retired Army Major Henry “Duke” Boswell, 92, a Westside resident, teacher and decorated veteran of World War II and Korea, died Nov. 29.
       On Dec. 3-4, the Shrine of Remembrance Mausoleum/Funeral Home held a visitation, a service with military honors and a reception. Private entombment is at the Shrine of Remembrance Mausoleum Gate of Heaven.
       Raised in North Carolina, Major Boswell had lived on the Westside for 46 years.
       He was well known as a public speaker - sharing his military stories to numerous groups and schools, and was honored as the grand marshall of the 2009 Veterans Day Parade.
       Major Boswell taught sixth grade at Whittier Elementary from 1971 until 1986, when he retired. Hanging on the wall of his home, alongside military medals that included the Bronze Star and Purple Heart, was a plaque he

Boswell in a photo from the 1940s.

Courtesy photo

received from one of his Whittier classes. It read: To Mr. 'B.' - the biggest, baddest, beautifullest & bossiest teacher in the world - Your Class-Grade 6, June 1981.”
       In a 2009 interview with the Westside Pioneer, Major Boswell told how he lied about his age (16) to join the Army in 1940. In World War II, he was part of the 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment's jump at D-Day (an event dramatized in the 1962 movie, “The Longest Day”), and fought as a rifleman in numerous battles, including the Battle of the Bulge.
       Returning to combat in Korea in 1950, he was hit by a mortar blast that permanently damaged his left hand and left knee.
       He retired from the the Army in 1963, finishing his career at Fort Carson, after which he started a second career as a teacher.
       He was married for 60 years to his wife, Maxine, before her death in 2007.
       According to his obituary, Major Boswell is survived by two sons, Ralph and Jamie; a brother, James; two grandchildren; and six great-grandchildren.
       The 2009 Westside Pioneer article on Major Boswell is at this link.

Westside Pioneer/obituary
(Posted 12/1/15, updated 12/5/15; Community: In Memoriam)

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