James “Jim” R. Boyd was born in January 1921 in Long Beach, California while his parents were there on vacation. Shortly after he and his mother were released from the hospital, the family returned to Larned, Kansas where Boyd grew up. He had one younger brother and one younger sister. His younger brother served in the Marine Corps. His father ran farms and Boyd can remember during the Dust Bowl [Annotator’s Note: The Dust Bowl was a period of severe dust storms that greatly damaged the ecology and agriculture of the American and Canadian prairies during the 1930s; severe drought and a failure to apply dryland farming methods to prevent the aeolian processes caused the phenomenon] days, and it was Boyd’s job to sweep off the sidewalks and hang sheets in the windows. The Dust Bowl caused a lot of problems for the kids in the area. If there was a bad storm, games were canceled. People did not travel much outside of the town because it was difficult to see in the distance. Despite this experience, Boyd had a great childhood. He had lots of friends, went to town, and saw movies. Boyd graduated high school in the late 1930s and began taking classes at Kansas University [Annotator’s Note: the University of Kansas in Lawrence, Kansas]. On Sunday, 7 December 1941, he was at a party when he learned about the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. The news came as a shock to him, and he knew immediately that the event would be life-changing. On 3 January 1942, Boyd volunteered for service in the Navy. He completed his degree a few months later and then went on active duty. Boyd’s first stop after being activated was at the Midshipman School at the University of Notre Dame [Annotator’s Note: in Notre Dame, Indiana]. He was part of the first class of midshipmen at Notre Dame. Three months after he arrived at there, Boyd was declared a gentleman by act of congress and commissioned an ensign in the United States Naval Reserve. He learned a lot of nautical lingo and signals. He also did calisthenics during this time. Although he is not exactly sure why he did it, Boyd volunteered for assignment to PT boats [Annotator's Note: patrol torpedo boats] after completing his midshipman training. He was sent to the Motor Torpedo Boat School in Melville, Rhode Island where he completed training aboard a 78-foot Huckins boat. The weather conditions were freezing, and he did not enjoy the training. From there, he was assigned Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron 26 [Annotator’s Note: MTBRon 26] in Jacksonville [Annotator’s Note: Jacksonville, Florida] and sent to Pearl Harbor. The trip from the east coast to Hawaii took them first to Cuba, then to Jamaica. MTBRon 26 was based at the Pearl City Yacht Club and began a course of training patrols around the Hawaiian islands. During their trip, they stopped for gas, but no one knew who they were coming and they had a difficult time getting gas and provisions. They also went through a hurricane.

When their training schedule was complete, James “Jim” R. Boyd and the rest of his squadron [Annotator’s Note: Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron 26, or MTBRon 26] were sent to Midway Island where they spent several months trying to figure out what they were supposed to be doing. His boat was put on security duty often. Eventually, Boyd had acquired enough time to rotate back to the United States. After a short leave [Annotator's Note: an authorized absence for a short period of time] in San Francisco [Annotator’s Note: San Francisco, California], he found himself assigned to another PT Boat [Annotator's Note: patrol torpedo boat] squadron in the Pacific, Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron 27. Boyd joined Squadron 27 in the Philippines shortly before the squadron moved to Balikpapan, Borneo. When they arrived in Borneo, Boyd experienced a situation like the one he had found at Midway when he arrived there with Squadron 26. No one in the area knew they were coming and there were no provisions or facilities there for them. Boyd went on to spend the better part of a year in Borneo and was there when the war came to an end [Annotator’s Note: The Japanese surrendered 15 August 1945, and signed the official surrender documents 2 September 1945.]. When the squadron left Borneo, some of the men rotated back to the United States, but Boyd was sent to Manila [Annotator’s Note: Manila, Philippines]. There, he was detached from service on PT boats and was put in command of a squadron of 35 mine sweepers. For several months, Boyd was responsible for assigning sectors for the boats in his squadrons to sweep for mines. To Boyd, this duty was the most rewarding he performed during the war. Boyd’s duty in the Philippines kept him there for about a year. In late 1946, Boyd received enough points [Annotator's Note: a point system was devised based on a number of factors that determined when American servicemen serving overseas could return home] to return to the United States and was separated from service with the rank of lieutenant. He heard about the atomic bombs [Annotator's Note: nuclear weapons dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, 6 and 9 August 1945] over the radio.

James “Jim” R. Boyd separated from service with the rank of lieutenant in 1946. He immediately took advantage of the G.I. Bill [Annotator's Note: the G.I. Bill, or Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, was enacted by the United States Congress to aid United States veterans of World War 2 in transitioning back to civilian life and included financial aid for education, mortgages, business starts and unemployment] benefits and got his law degree from Washburn University in Topeka, Kansas. He also used the G.I. Bill to obtain his private pilot’s license. Boyd went on to have a successful career in the law, banking, and real estate fields. He is now retired and living in Wichita [Annotator’s Note: Wichita, Kansas]. The G.I. Bill was the best thing that happened to the veterans that returned from service. A lot of veterans were able to improve their lives because they could get a college education. His most memorable experience of World War 2 was midshipmen school and enjoying the night life of Chicago [Annotator’s Note: Chicago, Illinois]. Boyd served in the Navy because it sounded nice, and he knew he did not want to be an infantryman. His service allowed him to mature and learn how to take responsibility. He feels lucky to have served his country. The Navy did not know what to do with PT boat [Annotator's Note: patrol torpedo boat] squadrons. Boyd believes there should be institutions like the National WWII Museum [Annotator's Note: The National World War II Museum in New Orleans, Louisiana], and that we should continue to teach World War 2 to future generations.