Mike Boyce, seated at a table at the beginning of his first term (Photo: Larry Felton Johnson/Cobb County Courier)

By Mark Woolsey

A former top Cobb County official has been accorded a singular honor. Military veteran Mike Boyce, who served as chairman of the Cobb County Board of Commissioners from  2017 to 2021, is being inducted (posthumously) into the Georgia Military Veterans Hall of Fame.

Boyce retired as a colonel in the Marines after more than 30 years of service, which included an active role in Operation Desert Storm.

Candidates are selected reflecting three different categories: valor, achievements, and service. Hall of Fame President and CEO Col. Rick White (USA-Ret) says Boyce was nominated in the service category.

Boyce was elected chair in 2016 and served one four-year term, but Hall of Fame officials say his service to Cobb and the region began long before.

After retiring from the military in 2001 he moved to Marietta and became a government and military contractor. At the same time, Hall of Fame officials say he plunged into community service, taking an active role in such groups as the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the Disabled American Veterans and the Marine Corps League. He also spoke to civic and other groups.

Boyce regularly accompanied veterans to the Atlanta VA center, helping those who had unsuccessfully sought medical care and benefits, aiding them in pressing their cases.

White says Boyce is one of 15 service members being honored, as has been the case each year. He’ll be inducted Nov. 1 during a banquet in Columbus, then next year the group’s citations -and photographs will be presented to the state of Georgia and will go on display at the State Capitol’s military hall of fame museum.