Boggess and Calder Listed on Fallen Heros Memorial

Stage one of the Fallen Heros Memorial construction is now complete at Jesse James Park, north of Kearney. A Fallen Warriors Memorial has been erected ahead of the monument placement.

Future generations will have a single place to commemorate the ultimate sacrifice made by 17 local men far too long forgotten. Their names make the memorial personal, showing the human impact of war on a community and establishing a physical bond with its residents.

As a tribute to these fallen heroes, KPGZ News will publish biographies of the soldiers as provided by Rich Kolb of the Kearney-Holt Fallen Warriors Memorial.

Roy Boggess

Birthplace and date: Kearney, Oct. 15, 1920

Home of record: Kearney

Roy came from a family of four sisters and three brothers and was a member of the Kearney Baptist Church. He enlisted in the Naval Reserve at Kansas City on July 22, 1942. After mustering in on June 10, 1943, Boggess was assigned to the USS St. Augustine, a patrol gunboat (PG-54). His time on active duty would last a mere seven months.

On the night Jan. 6, 1944, while leading a convoy from New York to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, the ship was accidentally rammed by a merchant tanker off the coast of Cape May, New Jersey. She foundered in five minutes, taking the lives of 115 sailors of 145 aboard, constituting 80 percent of the crew. Only four other U.S. ships in the Atlantic suffered a greater loss in men during the war. The epitaph on Boggess’ gravestone reads: “He died for his country.” The East Coast Memorial in Battery Park in New York City (dedicated May 23, 1963) honors all the Americans who died in the western coastal waters of the Atlantic Ocean during WWII.  

Howard Thomas Calder

Birthplace and date: Elmwood Place, Ohio, Oct. 26, 1913

Home of record: Kearney

Howard had four brothers growing up in Kearney. Well before WWII, he had extensive military service. Starting with the Army, he logged three years (1932-35). Without skipping a beat, he joined the Navy in 1935 and had seven years in the sea service by the time of the U.S. mobilization for WWII. 

USS Astoria (CA-34), a heavy cruiser, was Calder’s ship. It earned campaign credits for two of the Pacific war’s most famous early naval battles. During Coral Sea (May 4-8, 1942), it screened carrier raids off Tulagi in the Solomons. Amidst Midway (June 3-6), the cruiser served as the flagship for Task Force 17 north of the island.      

Astoria was later assigned to Task Group 62.3, Fire Support Group L, to cover the Marine landings on Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands. On the night of Aug. 8/9, 1942, off Savo Island, the cruiser was mercilessly raked by Japanese gunfire, turning the ship into a blazing inferno. After being hit at least 65 times, sailors had to abandon the sinking ship. With a casualty toll of 238 killed in action, it was the 16th deadliest American ship loss to enemy action in the Pacific war. Calder’s name is listed on the Tablets of the Missing at Manila American Cemetery and Memorial in the Philippines.     

The memorial in Jesse James Park will serve as a permanent site of remembrance, a focal point for Memorial and Veterans Day activities. Remembering the names and lives of those who gave all is a sacred obligation, and today all three communities can be proud that this debt has been symbolically paid in full. The Memorial will be dedicated on Memorial Day, 2024.

KPGZ News - Brian Watts contributed to this story