The 1993 graduate of Union High School and member of the U.S. Air Force Academy class of 1998 died Sept. 6 from injuries suffered Aug. 31 in a recreational vehicle accident in Doha, Qatar.

A memorial service will be held at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Broken Arrow Assembly of God for the 29-year- old who was a pilot and instructor for refueling missions flown in the Iraqi war theater.

"We are going to celebrate his life, not his death," his mother, Wanda, said Friday on behalf of her husband, John, and the captain's brother, Joey.

John X. and Wanda Boria reside in Broken Arrow. Joey Boria, who is home, is a seminary student in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

Joey Boria has a strong spiritual background, "but he is missing his brother," the mother said.

The parents and brother were in Doha at the captain's bedside when he died after having been kept alive on life support.

Following the service in Broken Arrow, Boria's body will be taken to Colorado Springs, Colo., for burial Thursday in the Air Force Academy cemetery.

That, his father and mother said, is the way John Boria would have had it.

While at the academy, he and other classmates had a special inscription put inside their graduation rings.

"A friend that sticks closer than a brother," it reads.

In death, John J. Boria

Boria was an organ donor, and his kidneys were made available for other patients at the Hamad General Hospital in Doha.

Arrangements were made to fly his heart to Saudia Arabia.

Plans were discussed on how to help others through his liver and other organs.

"We pray that his organs are functioning and giving life to others. Our son's wish was to give life to other people," his mother said.

Boria, a member of the 911th Refueling Squadron from Grand Forks Air Force Base, N.D., was deployed to Qatar in June. He was scheduled to be home next week, his family said.

He had served on previous deployments to other overseas countries.

He was riding a recreational, all-terrain vehicle, accompanied by a friend on another vehicle, over sand dunes when the accident occurred. An investigation is continuing, but it is believed that he suffered fatal wounds to an artery in his neck and to the head.

His mother, a registered nurse, said he received excellent care at the hospital, but his condition was fatal because of the severe bleeding and injuries.

Boria was somewhat laid back, but he enjoyed the camaraderie he shared with his Air Force buddies, the parents said.

His mother said she wants her son to be known as somebody who helped other people. That apparently is the case.

Since his death, the family has received frequent letters, flowers, visits and prayer offerings, many from people they never knew before.

A sergeant told the family that it was a privilege for fellow airmen to fly with the captain because he put them first.

A captain wrote that "your son had tremendous integrity, was fiercefully loyal, and consistently strove to do what was right. He was a good man, a loyal friend and a noble patriot."

"We send them our heartfelt thanks," Wanda Boria said of those who have contacted the family. "We ask them to keep praying for the next few weeks, which will be very difficult."

To her son, she said, military life was about "a band of brothers. It was not about politics to them or who is president. It is about pride for your country."

His favorite Bible verse in John 15 states, depending on the translation, that "no greater love has a man than he lay down his life for his friends," his mother said.

John Boria's father, an employee at American Airlines, said members of the armed forces stationed overseas in the war on terrorism make huge personal sacrifices to serve their country.

They miss births and birthdays of children, holidays like Christmas, and being with relatives, among other things most Americans take for granted, he said.

"It is hard," the father of Capt. John J. Boria said.

Rob Martindale 581-8367
rob.martindale@tulsaworld.com