WORLD WAR II MEMORIAL - Private John W. Koch

 

Private John William Koch

It was March 14, 1924, when John Koch was born in Springfield Township, Williams County, Ohio. His parents, George N. and Matilda "Tillie" E. (Cox), Koch would add seven other children to their clan; three served in the war.

John attended the Farmer School in Defiance County, as his parents lived in Farmer Township, but his mailing address was Route 5, Bryan, a common situation for his school district. According to the 1940 census, they had lived in rural Williams County in 1935 also.

Entering the draft in 1942, it was only a year later before he enlisted in the Army in Toledo.

Draft Card

As a farmhand at home with 2 years of high school under his belt, he officially enlisted on December 17, 1943. 

He was assigned to Company B, 33rd Armored Regiment. Most of his basic training took place in Fort Knox, Kentucky.

Pvt. Koch was a combat soldier in the Battle of the Bulge, one of the most intense battles for the United States, ending with sieges in Belgium. Belgium wanted to be a neutral country, but, unfortunately, the Germans invaded them in 1940 and despite resistance, occupied the country.  By August 1942, the Germans were deporting Belgian Jews into concentration camps.  In November 1944, Pvt. Koch was sent to the field hospital, having been hit in the jaw and cheek by aerial debris from a bomb blast. He was sutured up and sent back out to duty.

Battle of Bastogne

The Siege of Bastogne was a fight for a very strategic location for the Allies as all roads through the Ardennes, heavily forested, rough, hilly ground, led to Bastogne.

It grew impossible to get supplies in except by airlift due to the pockets of German soldiers, and the winter of 1944 was one of the coldest on record for the region.

From December 16 - December 27, the Allies worked to pin the Germans in and capture the city, and they succeeded. In the first week of January when the Germans renewed an offensive. On January 7, 1945, the day that Pvt. Koch was killed, the 33rd Armored Division had stayed in Bastogne and Regne to hold on to the territory. They maintained road blocks and set guards with resistance from the Germans with artillery, guns, and mortars. The weather was cold and snowy and there was low visibility, the diary of the 33rd Division noted.

Bastogne

Private John Koch was killed on January 7, 1945, at Regne', Arrondissent de Bastogne, Luxembourg, Belgium.

Boynton Cemetery, Stryker

His obituary appeared in the Bryan Democrat on Thursday, November 20, 1947, as his body was brought home from overseas.

"BODY OF WILLIAMS CENTER VET HERE

Military Services for John W. Koch Will Be Held Saturday

The body of Pvt. John William Koch, first of the World War II dead to be returned to this area, was scheduled to arrive shortly after 4 

o'clock this afternoon at the New York Central railroad station (here) from the Army Distribution Center in Columbus.

Pvt. Koch, who was 20 at the time of his death in Belgium on January 7, 1945, had served in the army one year to the day he was killed. He was with Company B, Thirty-Third Armored Regiment, and previously to his death had been awarded the Purple Heart.

His body arrived in New York recently on the army transport, Joseph Connolly, in the first shipment from the European area. Upon arrival late today, it was to be expected at Oberlin-Ford Funeral Home, where services will be conducted at 2 pm. Saturday with the Rev. W.E. Turner, pastor of the Ney Church of God, officiating. Burial will be in Boynton Cemetery at Stryker.

Graveside military rites will be held by the Farmer American Legion Post and the Evansport V.F.W. Post.

Surviving are his parents, Mr. and Mrs. George M. Koch, who reside south of Williams Center in Defiance County; four sisters, Mrs. Mary Goebel of Edgerton; Mrs. Fern Kline of Mark Center; Mrs. Ethel Hanawalt of Defiance, and Miss Susie Jane Koch,at home; three brothers; Samuel at home, and Ray and Walter, both of Bryan." 

John's brothers, Ray and Walter, made it home and settled in Bryan.

Dianne Kline, Researcher

Tillman Koch - G.A.R., Bishop Post

It was on July 1, 1850, that Tillman Koch registered and purchased 120 acres in Section 6 of Noble Township, Defiance County, as recorded in the Lima Land Office.  And there it was that the census enumerator found him that year at the age of 28, with his wife, Mary (Margaret Geitgey), daughter Mary, 2, and new son, Samuel, 0 years old. Tillman was a farmer.  

It was not until he was drafted in June, 1863, that entering the war became a reality for Tillman.  He was drafted into Company B, 47th Ohio Infantry.  His enlistment was on September 27, 1864, at the age of 43.  




The 47th was heavily engaged in the fighting in Georgia and in Sherman's March to the Sea.  After the Atlanta campaign, one source noted that in that regiment, the ranks of 830 men were reduced to just 120.  It was at that point that 400 drafted men, like Tillman, and substitutes arrived as reinforcements.  At the end of the war, the 47th joined the march to Washington, D.C. to participate in the Grand Review there to end the war.  Tillman was mustered out on May 31, 1865, having served 8 months and 4 days.

In the 1870 census, Tillman was back home, farming in Noble Township, now with land worth $2000, as reported on the census.  His family had grown to include eight children by this time, with a few more added by the 1880 census.  In 1881, his wife, Margaret died and the death was noted in the Defiance Democrat of March 17, 1881:

"Died on February 9th, 1881, in Noble Twp., Mrs. Margarette Koch, wife of Tilllman, 50 years, 11 months, 15 days."

Margarette Geitgey Koch at Clinker Cemetery

 On August 1, 1881, the Defiance Democrat reported the marriage license for Tillman Koch and Elizabeth Widmer. Then on August 26, 1886, the same paper reported this assault:

"Last Tuesday night, some miscreant entered the house of Tillman Koch, South Defiance, (and) in his absence choked Mrs. Koch and threatened to kill her unless she produced her money.  Mrs. Koch feigned that she would get the money, but jumped from the window and called for assistance, thus frightening the burglar away."

Elizabeth Widmer Koch died on June 2, 1891 at the age of 76.

Dorothea Elizabeth Widmer Koch at Riverside Cemetery

"Tillman Koch got leave to wed Matilda Lang of Tiffin Township," announced the August 6, 1892 newspaper.  Matilda (Frieberger) Lang was Tillman's third and last wife, wed when he was about 70. In the 1900 census, Tillman, 78, and Mathilda, 69, lived at 117 Emery Street in Defiance.  They had been married nine years.  Apparently, Tillman had some rental property or rented farmland as he described himself as a landlord.

In 1903, at the age of 81, he wrote his will which left his house and all its contents to his wife, Matilda, for her use during her lifetime.  The rest of his real and personal property was divided ten ways, with 1/10 going to each of the following:
Mary Harding, daughter (widow of Uriah), Ney, Ohio
John Koch, son, Defiance
Mandy (Amanda) Ellen Bohn (Boon), daughter, wife of Alvin, Lebanon, Ohio
Nellie (Elnora) Sparling, daughter, wife of Charles, Bryan, Ohio
S. Jennie Phillips, daughter, wife of William, Defiance
Cora Kibble, daughter, wife of Ed, Ney, Ohio
Albert Koch, son, Payne, Ohio
George Koch, son, Evansport
Charles Koch, son, Ney
Viola Tharp (Thorp) granddaughter, a minor at 14, Mark Center, Ohio, daughter of his deceased daughter, Sarah, wife of James Thorp

Tillman Koch died on May 2, 1905 and is buried at the Clinker Cemetery with his first wife, Margaret.

Matilda Koch lived on until 1916.

(This is part of a series on Civil War veterans of Defiance County who were part of the G.A.R., Bishop Post, that headquartered in the city.  Formed in 1879, the post was named after a local man, Captain William Bishop, Company D, 100th Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Army who died as a result of wounds received in battle.  The veterans' photos are part of a composite photo of members that has survived.  If you have other information or corrections to add to the soldiers' stories, please add to the comments!)