John D. Boone – Private to Staff Sergeant.

Served with distinction in the Hq1 Light Machine Gun Platoon from October 20, 1942 to November 24, 1944. He accepted a commission as a Second Lieutenant. Thereafter, Lt. John Boone served in Companies H and I (eye) for the duration of WW II.  

John Boone is an outstanding representative of the “Greatest of the Greatest Generation.” 

John Boone was born September 7, 1920 in Tillamook, Oregon. He enlisted in the Army October 15, 1942. At the time, he was a Law School student at the University of Oregon. He volunteered for parachutist training, and was sent to Camp Blanding, Florida, assigned to the 508^th Parachute Infantry Regiment (508^th PIR).

The regiment was activated to determine whether it would be more efficient for the Parachute School to train units or to continue training individuals. The experiment was a success; several regiments completed the Parachute School training program in time to participate in WW II. 

The Army test program required that the 508^th PIR recruits take basic infantry training, and concurrently complete an arduous air-borne parachute school physical training program. The latter was  administered by an airborne qualified cadre.  The program was designed to prepare the recruits physically and mentally for parachutist training, and to eliminate unfit men from the program.  A serendipitous effect of the tough months of training and the arduous weeks of training at the Para-chute School was to forge a bond of love and respect among the Hq1 men that has endured over sixty years.

The 508^th PIR men completed the required qualification parachute jumps on February 26, 1943. John Boone recalls. “After a short furlough, my