Rep. Rogers Announces Passage of Bill Designating SSG Jack W. Coy Veterans Memorial Highway

COLUMBUS – State Rep. Elgin Rogers Jr. (D-Toledo) today announced the unanimous passage of House Bill (HB) 228 out of the Ohio House of Representatives. HB 228 designates a portion of Interstate Route 280, specifically between Navarre Avenue and Front Street in Lucas County, as the “SSG Jack W. Coy Veterans Memorial Highway.” Staff Sergeant Coy, a Toledo, native was killed during World War II.

“This bill recognizes and remembers SSG Jack W. Coy and all who have served and paid the ultimate sacrifice for democracy and freedom. I would like to thank Mr. Coy’s great niece Mrs. Shawnelle Johns and her family for bringing this American story to light. This is a fervent reminder that we will always honor our service members, as well as all veterans who have given their lives so that we can enjoy the liberties and freedoms guaranteed in our democracy,” said Rep. Rogers.

Staff Sergeant Coy died February 24, 1944, in Leimbach, Germany when his B-24J "Liberator" was hit by heavy anti-aircraft fire over Gotha. His remains were buried in a local cemetery in Germany where his plane crashed. According to a local news reporter earlier this year, “in March 1952, the American Graves Registration Command, an organization dedicated to finding fallen American personnel in the European Theater, took custody of the remains believed to be Coy's and moved them to Ardennes American Cemetery in Belgium.

Then in June 2021, DPAA historians along with American Battle Monuments Commission personnel exhumed Coy's remains from the Belgium cemetery and transferred them to a lab for analysis and identification. 

Scientists from DPAA used anthropological analysis to identify Coy's remains. Scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner also helped identify the remains using mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis.”