Photo gallery: Boutchyard families honored in Stafford Memorial Day service

The Armed Services Memorial in Stafford.

Marshal Boutchyard, 22, of the Army Reserves.

Greg Nilges (center) is a veteran of Operation Enduring Freedom. He salutes the flag during the ceremony.

Marvin Boutchyard died in Normandy, France.

Mercer Boutchyard died in Okinawa.

Members of the Rolling Thunder Motorcycle Chapter 3 Virginia from Dumfries came to honor the Boutchyards.

John Hess, a veteran from the Korea conflict, salutes the flag.

Benjamin Brands, a historian with the American Battle Monuments Commission, was the keynote speaker.

Distant cousins of WWII veteran, Marvin Boutchyard, sit on the right – Darien Boutchyard (center) and his wife Gloria Boutchyard (right). Marvin Boutchyard was honored at the Stafford 2024 Memorial Day Ceremony on Friday morning at the Armed Services Memorial.

Marshal Boutchyard, 22, of the Army Reserves, lays a flower in memory of his distant cousin who dies in WWII.

Boutchyard’s cousins, Darien Boutchyard (left), Gloria Boutchyard (center) and Marshal Boutchyard (right) find the names of Marvin and his brother, Mercer, in the bricks at the memorial.

Marvin Boutchyard survived the storming of Omaha Beach, and his brother Mercer fought in the Battle for Okinawa. Both lost their lives in service to their country. Their cousin, Marshal Boutchyard, an MP in the Army National Guard, presented a wreath in their memory. Rolling Thunder Chapter VA 3 were special guests. 

“Marvin Boutchyard’s mother lost one son in Normandy and one a year later in the Pacific,” said chairwoman of the Stafford Board of Supervisors Meg Bohmke. “With the 80th Anniversary of D-Day this summer, we thought it important to honor and recognize the incredible sacrifice of families like the Boutchyards.” 

Benjamin Brands, historian with the American Battle Monuments Commission, gave the keynote address. Brands, a Ph.D. candidate in history at George Mason University, specializes in the history of the United States Army in the 19th century. He received his Bachelor of Arts from the College of William and Mary in 2004 and his Master of Arts from George Mason University in 2015. From 2015 to 2017, he served as an assistant professor at the United States Military Academy at West Point, NY, where he taught courses on military history and the American Civil War.

Brands has also taught American and European military history for Oregon State University’s Ecampus. He previously served as an infantry officer in the United States Army. He worked at the U.S. Army’s Center of Military History, helping to write the official history of the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Since 2019, he has been employed full-time as a historian for the American Battle Monuments Commission, an agency of the U.S. federal government responsible for the care and administration of America’s overseas military cemeteries and monuments. 

Marvin Boutchyard is buried in the Normandy American Cemetery and Mercer Boutchyard in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific. The American Battle Monuments Commission administrates the Normandy American Cemetery.