US Navy Aviation Machinist Mate 2nd Class Johnnie Elmo Boyett was born in Bay County, Florida on April 19, 1921, the son of Clayton Herbert Boyett (1876-1934) and Margaret "Maggie" Julia Heinrichs (1878-1966). His father was a native of Pensacola and supported his family as a lumber inspector in Millview in 1900. By 1910, he was a laborer in a sawmill at Grassy Point, Washington County, Florida. Ten years later he had become a foreman at the sawmill in Saint Andrews in Bay County but returned to Pensacola sometime before 1924. Here, he took up his previous position as lumber inspector and would pass away in 1934 at his home in Myrtle Grove. Johnnie's mother was also a native of Pensacola and would join Clayton in the Myrtle Grove Cemetery in 1966.
Johnnie's childhood was much like that of the other kids in Pensacola during the Great Depression but his father at least had steady employment unlike so many others. After completing his studies in the local schools, Johnnie entered Pensacola High School where he would graduate in 1939. Perhaps because of the limited job market due to the Depression or just out of a sense of adventure Johnnie decided to enlist in the military. On November 8, 1939, he went down to the recruitment office on bottom floor of the Post Office building at the northeast corner of Chase and North Palafox and signed his name on the dotted line. He received a train ticket to Birmingham, Alabama where all testing, medical, and processing was carried out. After basic training and other duties, he was returned to Pensacola where he reported into the Naval Air Station on September 30, 1941. The next day, he reported into the personnel office and extended his enlistment for two more years.
His decision to re-enlist may very well have been because he was planning to marry in a few months. On January 31, 1942, he married Miss Bernice Emma Balkcom who was born in 1924 and the daughter of Mack Beth Balkcom (1899-1944) and Harriett M. Godwin (1900-1945). Her father had been the owner of the Star Fish Market before he became a motor mechanic.
As America threw her industry and military into the chaos of World War II, the Naval Air Station remained a cornerstone of the naval flight training program. And as an Aviation Machinist Mate 2nd Class at NAS, Johnnie's duties were to maintain the aircraft engines and propellers although many of them served as part of the air crews. It was in this capacity that Johnnie took off on a routine training flight from NAS Pensacola on the morning of May 13, 1942 in their PBY-2 aircraft. The plane was piloted by Alan G. Wilson who failed to see the signal flag recalling all planes due to severe weather. To make matters worse, their radio was not working properly either. When confronted, Wilson chose to land in the rough water rather than risk flying through the storm. In doing so, his plane was badly damaged during the landing followed by their drifting into a bridge causing partial submersion. Fortunately, Johnnie and the others were not injured in the mishap.
Twenty-three days later, Johnnie went up on another training flight with an entirely different pilot and crew. Ensign Malcolm W. Bird was the pilot for this flight and whose wife was waiting for him at home in Warrington. This was to be a navigation training exercise that usually lasted between six and eight hours. However, by sunset they had not returned nor was there any radio communication from the aircraft. Search parties were flown over the entire area looking for any sign of survivors or visible debris but there was none. The aircraft and its crew had completely vanished.
His wife and family were notified as were those of the entire crew. By week's end, the search had been called off and they were listed as missing. Three months later, Bernice would enlist in Women's Army Corps in Tallahassee on September 23, 1944. At this point in history, she disappeared from the records and her fate is unknown. Johnnie's oldest sister Claudie (1900-1979) would marry Lemuel Miller and is now buried in the Myrtle Grove Cemetery. His brother Theodore "Ted" W. Boyett (1903-2001) would serve in the Navy aboard the USS West Virginia until his discharge in 1927. He would retire from the Armstrong Electric Company after 32-years. His sister Florence (1907-1986) would marry Edward Magnuson while his youngest sister Alice Louise (1910-1983) was buried in Union Hill Cemetery. And last, his brother Coleman Hubert (1915-1981) became the former owner of a grocery and hardware store and is now buried in Pensacola Memorial Gardens.









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