MIDLOTHIAN, Texas — If you ask John Boswell if he is a hero, he will tell you that he was just a kid from Missouri who did his job and was lucky enough to come home. But on Wednesday, his adopted home of Midlothian made sure that he knows they consider him so much more.
“I’m just another one of the guys that was out there,” Boswell said at Paws for Reflection Ranch in Midlothian. Boswell was being honored, not just for being a veteran nearing his 101st birthday, but for being one of the few remaining American survivors of the infamous Battle of Iwo Jima.
“There are a lot of guys the same hero as I am,” he said. “I was in my job, and they’re in their job. It’s everybody is in their own. And that’s the way it operates, the way it goes.”
Boswell was a Navy corpsman-medic who arrived in the second wave of troops to land on the Japanese island in February of 1945. He endured 33 days, helping save as many wounded as he could. One of the bloodiest battles of the Pacific Theater in WWII, the 36-day battle cost 7,000 American lives and more than 18,000 Japanese.
“It was a hell hole,” Boswell recalled. “I don’t want to remember it. Just a little highlight here and there and that’s enough. It will always be difficult.”
But so that future generations don’t forget him, Boswell was inducted Wednesday into the Texas Veterans Hall of Fame. The Denton-based non-profit also presented Boswell with its Valor and Patriot Awards recognizing acts of bravery and dedication to service.
The City of Midlothian also declared March 26, 2025, as “John Boswell Day.”
“You remind us that we are a community that never forgets its heroes,” said Tracie Abbate with the Texas Veterans HOF.
“These guys are my heroes,” said Gary Steele, president of the Texas Veterans HOF. “It does my heart well just to be in their presence. It’s a very honorable thing for us to do to share the story of our veterans.”
As for the memories that have faded, some with time and some by choice, John Boswell is still a soldier at heart.
“I lived it once. I got through it. And I don’t want to go back. But, if I was called on for duty, I would go,” he said while also offering his advice for the future generations he helped save.
“Live a normal life. Honor the veterans. Know your history. And move on,” he said. “It will pay you dividends every day.”