Fireman First Class (F1c) Fred Hunter Boyer, United States Navy. Service Number: 2916508

Early Life

Fred Hunter Boyer was born on 21 October 1918 in Kempton, Tipton County, Indiana. His father, Roy Dickerson Boyer, born 18 September 1893 in Tipton County, Indiana, died 13 February 1981 in Tipton, Tipton County, Indiana, was a Farmer. His mother, Murta Mae Hunter was born on 29 January 1895 in Kokomo, Howard County, Indiana and died on 16 March 1983 in Tipton, Tipton County, Indiana. Fred’s parents were married on 9 June 1916. Fred was the eldest of three sons in the family.

Military

Fred Hunter Boyer enlisted in the U.S. Navy on 11 September in Indianapolis, Indiana. After boot camp and additional follow-on training, he was assigned to the Battleship USS West Virginia (BB-48), which was stationed in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii when the Japanese attack occurred. He reported aboard West Virginia on 15 November 1940.

On the morning of 7 December, 1941, two bombs hit the battleship USS West Virginia (BB-48), and at least 7 torpedoes, which blew two immense holes in her port side. She did not capsize but sank to the harbor bottom. When the attack was over, 106 of her crew were killed. She was salvaged, repaired, and returned to active service in July 1944.

Death and Burial

Fred Hunter Boyer was declared Missing in Action or Lost at Sea on 7 December 1941 aboard the USS West Virginia during the Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. He was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart Medal. He is memorialized at the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, Honolulu, Honolulu County, Hawaii. He is also memorialized at the Kempton Cemetery in Kempton, Tipton County, Indiana.

On the morning of December 7, 1941, during the attack on Pearl Harbor, the USS West Virginia (BB-48) was moored outboard from the USS Tennessee (BB-43). Five 18-inch aircraft torpedoes and two armor piercing bombs converted from 16-inch naval shells hit the West Virginia in its port side. The first bomb punctured the ship’s deck, causing it to collapse. The second was a dud, though it ignited aircraft fuel and sent billows of toxic smoke into the air. The enemy bombs and torpedoes killed and wounded many of those on board the battleship. While the extensive damage to the hull caused the West Virginia to sink, the crew’s efforts to keep it from capsizing meant the battleship could be salvaged, and it managed to return to service later in the war.

Fireman First Class Fred Hunter Boyer, who entered the U.S. Navy from Indiana, was serving aboard the West Virginia at the time of the Pearl Harbor attack. He was lost during the sinking and his remains have not been recovered. Today, Fireman First Class Boyer is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

Based on all information available, DPAA assessed the individual's case to be in the analytical category of Deferred.

Sources
https://www.history.navy.mil/our-collections/photography/wars-and-events

https://www.fold3.com/memorial/636582948/fred-boyer

https://www.fold3.com/page/529986137/fred-hunter-boyer

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/56116054/fred-hunter-boyer

https://www.honorstates.org/index.php?id=43308

https://dpaa-mil.sites.crmforce.mil/dpaaProfile?id=a0Jt000000BbK38EAF

https://www.newspapers.com/clip/88134550/the-tipton-daily-tribune/

https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/2324/images/32456_1220705235_0010-00630?pId=140953
This story is part of the Stories Behind the Stars project (see https://www.storiesbehindthestars.org/). This is a national effort of volunteers to write the stories of all 400,000+ of the US WWII fallen here on Together We Served and Fold3. Can you help write these stories? Related to this, there will be a smartphone app that will allow people to visit any war memorial or cemetery, scan the fallen person's name and read his/her story.
If you have any details, photos, or corrections for this story, please email me by clicking on my name.
CDR Robert "Red" Mulvanny-Contributing Author, Stories Behind the Stars

Boyer, Fred Hunter, F1c