In November 1944, Katherine Stocker received notification that her son John T. Stocker had been killed-in-action in Holland a month earlier.

Stocker, a 24-year-old former bookkeeper, had joined the 82nd Airborne Division after enlisting in 1942 and training to be among one of the elite paratrooper units. He served in the 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment.

In January 1945, Katherine Stocker of Williamstown, PA received further information about her son’s death in combat during Operation Market Garden.

In a letter from Major General James Gavin, commander of the 82nd Airborne, she learned that he had died on October 7, 1944, killed while delivering ammunition to his unit. From the 508th’s after action report, they were stationed near the town of Bemmel, just north of the crucial bridgehead at Nijmegan.

From the Williamstown Times newspaper, January 1945:

---

Letter From Officer Tells Of Death And Burial of Local Sgt.

The following letter was received recently by Mrs. Katherine Stocker, concerning the death and burial of her son, Staff Sergeant John T. Stocker, in Holland:

APO 469, U. S. Army
19 January, 1945

Dear Mrs. Stocker:—

It is with deep regret that I write of the death of your son, Staff Sergeant John T. Stocker, 33341408, a member of my command who was killed in action 7 October, 1944.

Your son was a member of the 508th Parachute Infantry, 82nd “All American” Airborne Division.

Staff Sergeant Stocker was a very efficient and reliable non-commissioned officer. He was a natural leader, calm in his approach to any task, yet determined to secure the desired results. Your son was killed in Holland by an enemy shell while delivering ammunition to a front line position.

Your son was buried in Holland, and I can assure you it was in a manner by his comrades befitting an Army Chaplain officiating. For further information concerning burial or disposition of personal effects an inquiry should be addressed to The Quartermaster General, Army Service Forces, Washington, D.C.

Putting aside family ties, the admiration, respect, and affection of comrades are a soldier’s most priceless possessions, because collectively these comrades are unfailing judges. These possessions I believe your son had earned in full measure. Death of such a man leaves with each member of the Division a lasting sense of loss, from which there comes to you a deep sense of personal sympathy.

Sincerely,
JAMES M. GAVIN,
Major General U. S. Army
Commanding

Mrs. Katherine Stocker
204 E. Market Street
Williamstown, Pennsylvania

---

Sergeant John T. Stocker was later interred at the Netherlands American Cemetery and Memorial. He left behind a widow, Anna Houtz Stocker, whom he had married a little over a year before his death.

---

Read more stories from World War II

Lt. Harry Welsh training for the paratroopers in 1942 | Band of Brothers

Podcast – A Pennsylvania soldier in the Battle of the Bulge

Lieutenant Harry Welsh of ‘Band of Brothers’ – Wounded at Bastogne on Christmas Eve, 1944

Ivan C. Lewis | Pearl Harbor survivor lost while serving with the 8th Air Force in 1943

---