Edward James Bolen, Jr. was born on May 22, 1922, in New York. He resided in Onondaga County, New York, and was a student at Columbia University at the time of his enlistment. He enlisted in the Army Air Corps on February 8, 1943, in Syracuse, New York. He was noted as being Single, without dependents.

Edward served in the 314th Fighter Squadron, 324th Fighter Group, as a First Lieutenant and Fighter Pilot during World War II. On November 17, 1944, he was Killed in Action when he was shot down by flak during a mission. His airplane crashed near La Meurthe River near Etival-Clairefontaine - 5 km south-southeast of Raon-l'Etape.

Ed was buried by the unit Chaplain Captain Richard W. Power, who went searching for Ed's crash site a few days after the plane went down. He took great risks as the area was still an active fighting zone. He buried Ed, marked the site, and returned to the unit. Lt. Bolen was removed from this temporary burial site and placed in what became the US Military Cemetery Epinal in Epinal, France, in January of 1945 after the area had been secured by the Allied forces. Lt. Bolen was repatriated to the US to his hometown, Syracuse, NY, for burial in his final resting place in July of 1949.

Source of information: www.findagrave.com, francecrashes39-45.net