- Name: Dr. William Ralph Chopp Jr.
- Location of Birth: Bovey, Minnesota
- Date of Birth: October 16, 1917
- Date of Death: April 19, 1990
- Parents: William Chopp & Marie (Gerzin) Chopp
- High School and Class: 1935 Greenway High School, Coleraine, Minnesota
- College:
- Highest Rank: 1st LT (1st Lieutenant)
- Branch: Army
- Other Branch:
- Date Sworn In: May 12, 1943
- Place Sworn In:
- Date of Discharge: February 18, 1945
- Place of Discharge:
-
Units and Locations:
Start Date End Date Unit(s) and Location(s) Served May 1943 Camp Robinson, Arkansas June 1943 552nd Engineers Heavy Pontoon Battalion Camp Gordon, Georgia - Military Awards:
- Military Highlights:
WW II Draft Registration Cards – 10/16/1940 – 03/31/1947
State: Minnesota
Name: William Ralph Chopp
Race: White
Age: 22
Birth Date: October 16, 1917
Birth Place: Bovey, Minnesota, USA
Residence Place: Bovey, Itasca, Minnesota, USA
Registration Date: October 16, 1940
Employer: University of Minnesota employee, Minneapolis, Hennepin, Minnesota
Weight: 160
Height: 5-6
Complexion: Light
Eye Color: Gray
Hair Color: Brown
Next of Kin: William Ralph Chopp, Sr., father, Bovey, Itasca, Minnesota
Newspaper article: Bovey Press, Bovey, Minnesota - August 20, 1943 - "August 8, 1943. Dear Ann: You have no idea how much your back page letters mean to the boys. We have eight enlisted men in our medical detachment here, and I swear they grab for the Bovey Press as quickly as I do. They all come from small towns in Pennsylvania and in reading "The Press" brings thoughts of their own town back to them. That shows, Ann, that good deeds do live on. We're all plenty thankful for the good friends back home. Maybe you'd be interested in what happened to Eileen and I since we last sipped cokes at "Ye Olde Sweet Shop." First to Camp Robinson, Ark., for training. It amounted to five weeks of hiking, night problems, drilling and studying. Then orders came out to report to my new outfit, the 552nd Engineers heavy pontoon battalion. Three days after arriving there (Camp Gordon, Ga.), we left for meneuvers in North and South Carolina on the Savanah River. Then on to the Cumberland River in Tennessee for the maneuvers here. This is probably the final training phase of this outfit as it is a year old this week. The men now feel that they're ready for anything and are anxious to build bridges where it'll do the most good. All in all, Ann, its exciting and loads of fun. In between dental patients, I get to shoot machine guns and "Sems" and travel the rivers by fast motor boats. Who wouldn't love it? This traveling business makes it hard on Eileen, but the officer's wives travel together by cars and locate in some town close to our bivouac. That way we get to see them once or twice a week. We've decided that when the war's over, we're going to have a home and then just sit there for three weeks to see what it feels like. We boys are thankful for the spirit of the folks in Bovey. After reading of strikes and people gyping in Government contracts, we're glad to find out that somebody back home is behind the army in trying to shorten the war. Bye for now, Wm. Chopp."
- Wars Involved:
World War II - MIA / POW:
- Civilian Life:
William Chopp died in Sun City, Arizona and is buried in Fort Snelling National Cemetery, Minneapolis, Minnesota (plot - V, O, 10160). He is survived by his wife, Barbara J.; children, Alan Chopp, William Chopp, Kathleen Schmitt, Dawn Erickson, and Kerry Lundmark; seven grandchildren; brother Dr. Richard T. Chopp; sisters, Bernadine Chopp, Jean-Adair Pinaglia, and Maxine Hatfield; and many nieces and nephews. - Tribal Affiliation(s):