John & Amelia Cokonougher wedding picture. 1916

This is John Henry Cokonougher and his new wife Amelia Irene "Miller" Cokonougher in 1916, shortly after they were married.

John and Amelia met at the home of his mother Mary Elizabeth "Wisecup" Cokonougher in South Salem, Ohio.  Amelia was a 16 year old orphan who had been placed in Mary's home as what was then the equivalent of today's foster child, to earn her keep as a housekeeper.  John was a bachelor farmer who was twice Amelia's age.  They were married 46 years and had five children:  Cecil Lloyd Cokonougher, born 19 April 1917, John Henry Cokonougher Jr., born 29 June 1919, Howard William "Bill" Cokonougher, born 14 August 1922, Herbert Miller Cokonougher, born 25 April 1924, and Geraldine June "Gerry" Cokonougher, born 24 November 1933.  John and Amelia lived most of their married life on the family farm on Wisecup Hill in Buckskin Township in Ross County, Ohio, originally purchased by John's father, Zachariah Cokonougher, in 1905.

Viola & Ralph Cokonougher photo 1970

VIOLA MAE COKONOUGHER, my mother, with me, A1C Ralph W. Cokonougher, in 1970.  

I had just finished a tour of duty in Japan, and was on my way to a tour of duty in Italy, when this picture was taken.  I was home on leave as I traveled from one side of the world to the other.  Mom was glad that I was being sent just about as far away from the VietNam War as one could get.

Howard W. "Bill" Cokonougher's bulletproof head

HOWARD WILLIAM "BILL" COKONOUGHER., my father, (on the right) with me, A1C Ralph W. Cokonougher, in 1970.   

I had just finished a tour of duty on one of the southern Japanese islands in the China Sea at the time, and was on my way to a new tour of duty in Brindisi, Italy.  My father told me that he was proud of me for following in his footsteps as a serviceman.  He himself had served on the US Army battle lines fighting Japan in World War II.  My father was a hard-headed Cokonougher, not only in his opinions and ways of dealing with life, but physically too.  He was hit in the head with shrapnel during World War II when a tank was blown up in front of him.  The shrapnel failed to penetrate his skull and he was back fighting on the front lines the very next day.  Doctors did not remove the shrapnel, so my father carried it in his head the rest of his life.  Later on, after the war and when I was a small child, he was again shot in the head, this time by a ricocheted bullet while he was hunting rabbits and pheasants with his sister and brother-in-law.  That bullet also failed to penetrate his skull.  He just pulled out the shot, wiped off the blood, and continued hunting.

Howard Cokonougher Military Grave Marker

HOWARD WILLIAM COKONOUGHER.    

This bronze military veteran's marker is on the grave of my father, Howard "Bill" Cokonougher, in South Salem Cemetery in South Salem, Ohio. The marker reads "HOWARD W COKONOUGHER  PFC US ARMY  WORLD WAR II  AUG 14 1922  DEC 5 1984".  My father served as a Rifleman in Troop E, 8th Calvery of the 1st Calvery Division in the U.S. Army, and fought in battles on the Bismarck Archipelago, South Phillipines, Luzon, and New Guinea, and was awarded the Purple Heart, Asiatic-Pacific Theater Ribbon with 4 Bronze Stars, Phillipines Liberation Ribbon with 2 Bronze Stars, Bronze Arrowhead, and Good Conduct Ribbon.  He also has another, non-military, gravestone that is not shown here.