Henry Kalkhoff

World War I

Henry Kalkhoff was born on a farm near Templeton on September 3, 1890 to Louis and Elizabeth (Lohaus) Kalkhoff, both German immigrants. He was the middle of three Kalkhoff brothers to enter the US Army in World War 1.

He enlisted in the US Army on February 26, 1918 and was assigned serial number 2152371. He was transported to Camp Logan near Houston, TX for initial training. He was then assigned to Company F, 129th Infantry of the American Expeditionary Force, a unit consisting primarily of National Guardsman from Illinois. In May, 2018, the unit was transported to Camp Merritt, NJ for transit to Europe.

Company F of the 129th Infantry boarded the USS Covington in Hoboken, NJ on May 10, 1918 for its voyage to Europe. Like many other troop ships, the USS Covington was built as a passenger liner by a German company and named the Cincinnati. The ship was seized by the United States when it declared war on Germany in 1917. Henry and his unit arrived in Brest, France on May 22, 1918. On July 1, 1918, the USS Covington was transiting additional US Army troops to Brest when it was torpedoed by a German U-boat. Most of the crew and troops survived and the ship did not immediately sink. However, as the ship was being towed to Brest on July 2, 1918, it did sink into the Atlantic.

Henry and his unit were involved in combat near Verdun and as a part of the Meuse Argonne offensive. As they began Phase II of the Meuse Argonne offensive on October 5, 1918, Henry was wounded northwest of Reims, France. His younger brother, Bernard, had died of the Spanish flu in France the previous day.

Henry’s wounds were not severe and he remained in France. Hostilities ended on November 11, 1918 with the successful conclusion of the Meuse Argonne offensive. Henry’s unit was assigned occupation duties and was ordered back to the US in May, 1919. They sailed from Brest on May 15, 1919 aboard the SS Leviathan. This ship was another former passenger liner (Vaterland) for the Hamburg American line that was seized by the US in 1917. It was the largest passenger ship in the world and much faster than most of its contemporaries. It docked in Hoboken, NJ on May 22, 1919, a voyage that took about half the time of most.

Henry was immediately discharged but his journey back to Templeton included a stop back at Camp Merritt, NJ as well as Camp Grant, IL (near Rockford) which was the home base for the many Illinois soldiers in his unit.

Henry returned to farming upon his return to Templeton. On January 15, 1922, he married Kathryn Fangman daughter of Henry and Josephine Fangman. They remained in Templeton until 1926 when they moved to Minnesota. Henry lived there the remainder of this life. He died on December 23, 1977 at age 87 and is buried in St. Joseph Catholic Cemetery in Clements, MN.