Lawrence J. Bock

World War I

Lawrence Bock was born on April 3, 1895, near Rands, Iowa in Calhoun County. His parents were John and Mary (Jackle) Bock. His father was a German immigrant. The family moved to Carroll County in 1900 where they were engaged in farming east of Templeton. Around 1909, the family moved to Texas for Mrs. Bock’s health but returned to Templeton after a couple of years.

Lawrence was inducted into the US Army on July 26, 1918, along with about a dozen other Templeton boys. This group was transported via Camp Dodge to Camp Gordon near Atlanta, Georgia. He was assigned serial number 4006834. After limited basic training, Lawrence was assigned to the “September Automatic Replacement Draft #6” with at least two other Templeton boys. These troops were to be transferred to other units already in Europe when they arrived.

Lawrence and his unit were transported to Camp Merritt, NJ as they prepared to sail overseas. On September 9, 1918, the unit marched to Hoboken, NJ and boarded the USS Mercury which had previously been the German liner “Barbarossa.” It had been seized by the US when war was declared in 1917. The voyage to Europe was marred by numerous U-boat sightings and an outbreak of Spanish flu. Many soldiers came down with the virus and some died enroute or shortly after arrival including two Templeton boys, Bernard Kalkhoff and Sylvester Kasperbauer. The ship finally arrived in Brest, France on September 21, 1918.

Once in France, Lawrence was transferred to Company I, 16th Infantry Regiment of the 1st Infantry Division (Big Red One). The 16th Infantry Regiment had been the unit that Merle Hay was a member of when he became one of the first three US soldiers to lose their lives in World War I. Lawrence joined this unit as it kicked off the Meuse-Argonne offensive. On October 4, this unit became the only regiment to meet its main objective on day one of the offensive by liberating the village of Fleville. It subsequently participated in the attack to seize the city of Sedan. The regiment was still actively involved in combat when the fighting ceased on November 11, 1918.

After the Armistice, Lawrence and his unit were marched into Germany and were posted in Koblenz to perform occupation duty. Lawrence indicated part of the duty was to go to Berlin to neutralize snipers. After extended duty, the regiment was ordered back to the US and it boarded the USS Amphion at Brest, France on August 23, 1919. This was another former German liner that, unfortunately for these soldiers, had been used during the war to transport horses, mules and forage to Europe. The ship arrived at Brooklyn, NY on September 3, 1919. His unit was sent to Camp Dix, NJ. Lawrence and his unit participated in a ticker tape parade in New York City as well as a parade down Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, DC. He was discharged on September 24, 1919.

Lawrence returned to Templeton and, in 1923, joined his father’s auto repair garage in Templeton. He married Agnes (Helen) Navin in 1936. Lawrence operated the garage until 1964 and was also involved with his brother Art in Manning Motor Company. Lawrence died on February 23, 1975, in West Point, NE at age 79. He is buried in Sacred Heart Cemetery in Manning, IA.