Looking back: Hero’s home is disappearing

People traveling on Greenwood Lake Turnpike (Passaic County Route 511) routinely passing Long Pond Ironworks Historic District, may notice that some remaining buildings falling into disrepair and in danger of eventual demolition. One of them was a home for Army Lt. Lawrence H. Kocher, killed in military action on April 4, 1968, in South Vietnam.

Lt. Kocher, a member of the 1965 West Milford High School graduation class, is buried at Laurel Grove Cemetery in Totowa. Published reports in 1968 area publications said his wife Karen Burdett Kocher and his parents Lawrence H. and Mildred McHugh Kocher of West Milford, were notified of his death by the National Dept. of Defense. The official reports said Lt. Kocher, wounded in battle, died within an hour after being admitted to a combat hospital with what first was thought to be a minor wound. He was “killed in action” when he sustained wounds from small arms fire, an Army officer from Picatinny Arsenal reportedly told the family.

Kocher and his family moved to West Milford from Carlstadt, where he was born. They also lived in Wood Ridge before moving to the township in 1960. Lawrence was one of West Milford High School’s earliest drum majors in his junior and senior years. His many school activities included band, the drama group and Glee Club. He was a parishioner at Our Lady Queen of Peace Parish in Hewitt and a former president of its Christian Youth Organization (CYO). In addition to his school and church activities Kacher was a trained volunteer with the Greenwood Forest Fire Company and a musician with the Carlstadt Fife and Drum Corps. In 1968, a West Milford High School Library dedication plaque was presented in memory of Lt. Kocher. Honoring him in that ceremony were West Milford Board of Education Vice President Marion Novack, Acting School Superintendent Edwin Oskamp, Paradise Knoll School Principal Peter Loschialpo and District Music Coordinator Lola LaVerne Bevington.

Four days after his graduation Lawrence entered the Army and received his basic training at Fort Dix. He then studied leadership training there and then Advanced Individual Training (AIT) to learn technical and professional skills for his next assignment. He attended jump school at Fort Benning, Ga., prior to being sent to Fort Bragg N.C., for Special Forces (Green Beret) training. He returned to Ft. Benning where he attended Officers’ Candidate School. Commissioned a second lieutenant in November 1967, he was returned to Fort Bragg where he received his overseas assignment.

Lt. Kocher left for Vietnam on Feb. 22, just four days after his marriage. He was assigned to Company C, First Battalion, 50th infantry, of the 82nd Airborne Division. Just a few days after his arrival there. President Lyndon B. Johnson sent the Third Brigade after the TET Offensive. This was a major escalation and one of the largest military campaigns of the Vietnam War. The North Vietnamese People’s Army of Vietnam and the Viet Cong had launched a surprise attack against the South Vietnamese Army of the Republic of Vietnam, the United States and their allies – and they responded.

Lawrence was elevated to the rank of First Lieutenant and received the Silver Star Award for action beyond the call of duty. His death was on the same day – April 4, 1968 – at 6:01 p.m. that Martin Luther King Jr., American Civil Rights activist, was fatally shot at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tenn. King was rushed to St. Joseph Hospital where he was pronounced dead from mortal injuries.

The Stephens family homestead is another one of the earlier homes that fell into disrepair and was demolished at the Long Pond Ironworks site. The building suffered heavy damage in a storm. It was a craftsman style bungalow dating back to 1895. A house across the road that was also taken down was a parsonage. The village church, located next to it and the Whritenour house are among the remaining buildings.