By Donna Thornton/News Editor
A.C. Boyd’s first recorded service came when he was drafted “at the tender age of 18,” but it didn’t stop when his hitch in the military was up.
Boyd received a proclamation of commendation Tuesday (June 3) at the Etowah County Commission meeting in recognition of the 70th anniversary of the D-Day Invasion on June 6, 1944, but all present were impressed with what Boyd does now – in his 90th year—to service his community.
He continues to serve through the Etowah County Retired Senior Volunteer Program to deliver MANNA meals to homebound people in the community and he volunteers at Gadsden Regional Medical Center, driving people from the hospital parking lot to the doors and back.
When he was invited to say a few words about why he serves, Boyd drew laughs saying “I served in the military because I was drafted at the tender age of 18.
Delivering meals for MANNA and working a GRMC is service he chooses to do, Boyd said.
“I wouldn’t take a million dollars for the satisfaction I get from giving something back to the community,” Boyd said.
“To have been able to go there and come back here and do what I do is such a blessing,” he said.
Boyd said his generation, called “The Greatest Generation,” is quickly dying off.
“If things keep going the way they are,” Boyd said, he could be “the last man standing.”
Given Boyd’s military history, he should be standing proud.
After he was drafted he completed basic training camp in North Carolina, then went to Georgia to join a paratrooper unit.
He joined the 89th Infantry Division and was with Gen. George Patton’s troops as they traveled across Germany. At the end of World War II, they were 12 miles from Berlin.
According to the proclamation presented to Boyd, the commission recognized not only his contributions, but those of all World War II veterans who, like Boyd, continue to live their lives in service to others.