Elmer “Boge” Ellis was born on April 29, 1924, in Kershaw County, South Carolina. He was the son of John Sidney Ellis and Ethel Vane "Bunt" Moore Ellis. He completed his education through grammar school and enlisted in the National Guard sometime before 1941. He entered federal military service on January 16, 1941. While serving as a private, he volunteered for airborne training and attended the U.S. Army Airborne School, commonly referred to as Jump School, where he earned his Parachutist Badge in 1942. By 1943, he was assigned to Company B, 307th Airborne Engineer Battalion, 82nd Airborne Division. As a paratrooper engineer, he supported the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment during combat operations in Sicily and Italy. In September 1943, he took part in the combat jump at Salerno to reinforce the Allied beachhead, where he was wounded by aerial bombing. After the Italian campaign, Ellis and Company B were withdrawn and sent to Great Britain to prepare for the invasion of Western Europe under Operation Overlord. The 307th Airborne Engineer Battalion subsequently conducted intensive training for the airborne phase of the invasion, designated Operation Neptune.

On the evening of June 5, 1944, Pvt Ellis, serving with Company B, 307th Airborne Engineer Battalion, took part in Mission Boston, Serial No. 21, flown by the 314th Troop Carrier Group, with Company B assigned to support the 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment on Drop Zone N. Mission reports indicate that the formation was disrupted upon reaching the western coast of the Cotentin Peninsula and encountered light to moderate anti-aircraft fire; despite this, only one aircraft from Serial No. 21 was lost, and the paratroopers were dropped between 0202 and 0215 hours on June 6, 1944. Ellis was reported missing in action on June 7, 1944, and was never recovered, and is believed to have been killed on June 6, 1944. He was reported Missing in Action and officially declared dead on June 7, 1945.

Pvt Ellis' name is memorialized in the Tablets of the Missing in the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial, Colleville-sur-Mer, Département du Calvados, Basse-Normandie, France. He also has a cenotaph in the Wateree Baptist Church Cemetery, Camden, Kershaw County, South Carolina, USA.

Source of information: www.findagrave.com, weremember.abmc.gov, www.fold3.com