https://vpiworldwarone.lib.vt.edu/files/original/9663fd249d958ad64e183ed4120db02e.jpg 1c48051c083cb54ef5195e6c2cb69136 https://vpiworldwarone.lib.vt.edu/files/original/d6040b2766594d0444dd0e66bf882933.jpg 3a4befb92361fff418115bcb2e550e7f https://vpiworldwarone.lib.vt.edu/files/original/daf3e2f27801ca5bd1de14640d9f80ea.jpeg e8c5424988bff394d9e46221435e11fb Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource VPI Class of 1914 Person An individual. Last Name Boyd First and Middle Name Palmer Vaiden VPI Graduating Class In what VPI class did this individual graduate or what class should they have graduated from? 1914 Rank What military rank did this individual hold? Private Other Events What other significant events, outside of the military, occurred in this individual's life? Captured Service Branch What branch of the military did this individual serve in? Army Unit What unit or ship did this individual serve in or on? <ul> <li>Sailed to France on the Mount Vernon on 29 March 1918 attached to Sanitary Detachment, 38th Infantry</li> <li>Returned to the United States from France in April 1919 attached to Medical Detachment, 1st Battalion</li> <li>Headquarters, 361st Infantry</li> <li>Grave marker indicates service with the 317th Infantry, 80th Division - this occured from his enlistment until 17 December 1917</li> </ul> Birth Date 18 June 1894 Birthplace Alton, Virginia Parents William Boyd and Sally Jefferson Hailey Siblings Mary Lillie Boyd, John K. P. Boyd, Bettie B. Boyd, William J. Boyd, Nonie L. Boyd, John W. Boyd Military Events What significant military events occurred in this individual's life? Virginia native Sergeant Palmer Boyd, a medical corpsman with the 38th Infantry, wrote a brief memoir detailing his POW experience titled <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1_GnR_cMhD9BhKpnB_nv79ZY0VH9l7nyo/view?usp=sharing" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Kriegegefangenelager 80053: My Experience as a Prisoner of War in Germany.</a> While being processed, he and other doughboys discovered they were being funneled through a building to be interrogated. The men conspired to tell the same story to ensure the German interrogator only obtained limited information. It was an early example of POW group resistance. As a POW barracks chief, he kept fellow POWs off work details aiding the German war effort. In another quick-thinking action, Boyd had about 75 American POWs, all newly arrived from the front, cut off the leather straps and rubber headbands from their helmets before the items could be confiscated. The Germans recycled those materials for their war effort. Though a captive, Boyd continued to fight on the POW battlefield. 1927 "Virginia Polytehnic Institute in the World War" booklet Did this individual appear in the 1927 booklet "Virginia Polytechnic Institute in the World War"? If so what page? Yes Bibliography <ul> <li>"Remembering First World War POWs in a noble mission," Legiontown USA website (<a href="https://www.legiontown.org/ownwords/5260/remembering-first-world-war-pows-noble-mission" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">https://www.legiontown.org/ownwords/5260/remembering-first-world-war-pows-noble-mission</a>), accessed 30 March 2025</li> <li>Photograph of Palmer Boyd upon his release from German captivity in November 1918 with shoes he carved himself (see attached photo)</li> <li><a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1_GnR_cMhD9BhKpnB_nv79ZY0VH9l7nyo/view?usp=sharing" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Kriegegefangenelager 80053: My Experience as a Prisoner of War in Germany. Palmer V. Boyd (Lynchburg, Virginia: Press of Brown-Morrison Company, 1919 or 1920)</a></li> </ul> Hometown Alton, Virginia Death Date 8 March 1939 Cause of Death Automobile accident Place of Death Rocky Mount, North Carolina Spouse(s) Eula Cooper Boyd Freeman Decorations or Citations Croix de Guerre Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Boyd, Palmer Vaiden prisoner of war