cmyr
12-08-2009, 04:29 AM
For those who knew him when he was growing up, it comes as no surprise that Marine 1st Lt. Colin Boynton of Weston was awarded a Bronze Star.
Boynton, 26, an intelligence officer with the Third Marine Division, received the nation's fourth-highest award with an additional "V" designation for valor for "heroic achievement in connection with combat operations against the enemy" in Afghanistan. He served as an embedded training team leader with the Afghan National from November 2008 to last August.
According to the Bronze Star citation, released Monday, Boynton was honored for his "determined leadership and mentoring in the most austere combat conditions" and in particular for his conduct when his coalition patrol came under sniper fire on Christmas Eve 2008. He directed return fire, coordinated the evacuation of the wounded and oversaw his unit's withdrawal.
That heroism is completely in character for Boynton, said his mother, Chris Baker, 52, of Weston. Boynton wanted to become a Marine since he was 13 years old, when he was determined to follow in his older brother's footsteps. His brother, Jason, is a staff sergeant in the Marines.
Boynton pursued that goal with a focus and determination that's been part of his character his whole life, his mother said during a Monday phone conversation from her winter home in Apache Junction, Ariz.
A 2002 graduate of D.C. Everest High School, Boynton was a running back on the vaunted Evergreens football team, though he never started, coach Wayne Steffenhagen said.
"He may not have been the most talented person physically," Steffenhagan said. "But he was always disciplined in terms of achieving his goals, and he always set his goals high. ... He wouldn't ever let up. He came every day to get better. He would find a way to get the job done."
Boynton was a junior in high school when he received an ROTC scholarship from the Marines. He graduated from the University of Arizona in Tucson in 2006 with a double major of history and psychology.
"He loves military history," Baker said. "It's a passion of his."
Boynton, who now is stationed in Okinawa, Japan, and could not be reached for this story, volunteered to serve in Afghanistan, Baker said.
She's proud of his service and his accomplishments, but it's also difficult for her. The thought of his medal brought her to tears.
"The whole war is an emotional subject for me, not just for the Americans who are involved, but for the whole Afghan people," Baker said.
Boynton kept in contact with Baker throughout his Afghanistan tour.
"He told me ... that the Afghans want the same things that we want," Baker said. "They want to be able to take care of their families, to provide for their families and be safe."
http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2009912080590
Boynton, 26, an intelligence officer with the Third Marine Division, received the nation's fourth-highest award with an additional "V" designation for valor for "heroic achievement in connection with combat operations against the enemy" in Afghanistan. He served as an embedded training team leader with the Afghan National from November 2008 to last August.
According to the Bronze Star citation, released Monday, Boynton was honored for his "determined leadership and mentoring in the most austere combat conditions" and in particular for his conduct when his coalition patrol came under sniper fire on Christmas Eve 2008. He directed return fire, coordinated the evacuation of the wounded and oversaw his unit's withdrawal.
That heroism is completely in character for Boynton, said his mother, Chris Baker, 52, of Weston. Boynton wanted to become a Marine since he was 13 years old, when he was determined to follow in his older brother's footsteps. His brother, Jason, is a staff sergeant in the Marines.
Boynton pursued that goal with a focus and determination that's been part of his character his whole life, his mother said during a Monday phone conversation from her winter home in Apache Junction, Ariz.
A 2002 graduate of D.C. Everest High School, Boynton was a running back on the vaunted Evergreens football team, though he never started, coach Wayne Steffenhagen said.
"He may not have been the most talented person physically," Steffenhagan said. "But he was always disciplined in terms of achieving his goals, and he always set his goals high. ... He wouldn't ever let up. He came every day to get better. He would find a way to get the job done."
Boynton was a junior in high school when he received an ROTC scholarship from the Marines. He graduated from the University of Arizona in Tucson in 2006 with a double major of history and psychology.
"He loves military history," Baker said. "It's a passion of his."
Boynton, who now is stationed in Okinawa, Japan, and could not be reached for this story, volunteered to serve in Afghanistan, Baker said.
She's proud of his service and his accomplishments, but it's also difficult for her. The thought of his medal brought her to tears.
"The whole war is an emotional subject for me, not just for the Americans who are involved, but for the whole Afghan people," Baker said.
Boynton kept in contact with Baker throughout his Afghanistan tour.
"He told me ... that the Afghans want the same things that we want," Baker said. "They want to be able to take care of their families, to provide for their families and be safe."
http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2009912080590