Here in the United States, Memorial Day will be upon us soon.
In researching for my upcoming book on the liberation of the train, I are reminded of the sacrifices of the soldiers, again and again. Right now I’m revisiting a horrific incident that occurred just across Hitler’s “West Wall”, the so-called Dragon’s Teeth that formed the three-mile deep defensive fortifications that our troops had to cross to enter German soil. Resistance was stiff; on a cold and rainy day before Thanksgiving, 1944, several tanks of the 743rd Tank Battalion’s ‘D’ Company were wiped out in a muddy apple orchard a few miles across the border.
Letter to Marvin Boller postmarked 5 days after his death. It remains unopened in a museum in Belgium. Thanks to Vincent Heggen, the curator.
In 2012, I was alerted to the existence of an unopened WWII era letter in a memorial museum in Belgium. The envelope was postmarked Nov. 27, 1944, and addressed from the USA to PFC Marvin K. Boller, D Co., 743rd Tank Battalion. It was also stamped ‘DECEASED’. I wrote to Carrol Walsh, a liberator of the train near Magdeburg and a fellow member of Company D, and asked if he knew Boller; I also sent him this image of the envelope. He wrote back:
‘Hi Matt, I was stunned when I read your message. I remember Boller very well and remember when he got killed. I believe it was just before Thanksgiving 1944 when a big German tank wiped out four tanks of the first platoon of Co. D of the 743rd. Every member of every crew of every one of the four tanks was killed. I seem to remember packages arriving for some of these guys after they had been killed. I used to tease Boller, who was an older man, because he wanted to vote for Tom Dewey and I was big for my pal, FDR. Boy what a memory you stirred up. I knew all the guys that got killed in that engagement.’
Walsh and others would survive and go on to liberate Holocaust survivors on April 13th, 1945.
So here is a tribute to Marvin Boller, and all who fell. His body was returned to the United States. Rest on.
Riverside Cemetery, Oshkosh, Winnebago County, Wisconsin, USA. Credit: J M Schumann
MARVIN K. BOLLER
PFC, 743 TANK BN WORLD WAR II
Birth: Oct. 9, 1908
Death: Nov. 22, 1944
More can also be seen here.
Teaching History Matters 
Hi Matt .Just wanted to leave you a note regarding the museum and its location .The museum is located East in Belgium, just on the Dutch Border.The town is Fouron -le Comte .This is the last village before entering Holland . There is a 30th division Memorial also there to honor our Liberators and the death of Wallace Horton( Co A 119th RGT who gave his life for our Freedom . Museum is also located from one mile at the spot where the 117th RGT Co A under the Leadership of Cpt John Kent entered first in Holland . We have 2 American cemeteries i our area Margraten and Henri-Chapelle .The main goal of my museum is to honor the sacrifices many GI’s made so many years ago and for most of them the last and ultimate one . Young Generation will remember this and this for the future Generations also ”Just PRESERVE the Past for the Future ”
vince Heggen
Thanks Vince. Appreciate all you do. Updated the post. Matt