January 16, 1923 – November 21, 2011

Kenneth Erich

Service Information

Branch of Service: Army

Theater of Operation: Other

Enlisted / Commissioned: Feb 1, 1943

Honored By: The Eisenhower Foundation

Biography

Kenneth Carl Erich was born to Carl G. and Hannah Rothe Erich in Abilene, Kansas in 1923. His father worked for the Santa Fe Railroad and was a renowned whittler, who made intricate replicas of antique firearms out of pine boards. Erich’s draft registration card indicates he worked at the Reflector-Chronicle. He entered the Army in February of 1943 and immediately contracted scarlet fever. After being in quarantine or in the hospital for a month, he was sent to California, where he had to enter quarantine again due to spinal meningitis exposure. No other information about his service is available electronically. He married Ruth Gertrude Erich. They lived their lives in Abilene. They had one son, Ronald Lewis Erich, who served in the Navy with rank of STS2, but passed away when he was 24 in 1969. Courtesy fold3.com, newspapers.com, findagrave.com

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Dwight D. Eisenhower giving a speech at a podium.