Posthumous Mobilization War Cross for Jo Mohr

Kerkrade native Jo Mohr posthumously received the Mobilization War Cross on Friday, Sept. 30. His 6 children received the decoration on behalf of their father. The Mobilization War Cross was awarded by Mayor Dassen at the Kerkrade Town Hall.

The Department of Defense approved Mohr's son Paul's application. The Mobilization War Cross covers the tough war years 1939-1945 and can be awarded to anyone who meets the applicable service criteria: at least six months of actual service in the period after April 6, 1939 and before May 20, 1940.

Service
Mr. Mohr, born October 30, 1915 in Spekholzerheide, Kerkrade, served in the Vrijwillig Landstorm Verband Maastricht from 1933 to 1935. In 1935 he was conscripted as a regular conscript from the 1935 draft from Kerkrade. In September of that year he was promoted to corporal. On April 11, 1939, he responded to the call for General Mobilization in the Netherlands. On June 8, 1940, he went on permanent major leave.

Watch Case Spekholzerheide
Jo Mohr married Zus Kietselaer from Baarn in July 1944. They went to live with Jo's parents at 17 Kerkstraat in Spekholzerheide, who ran a watch store there. Jo and his father were also sexton at St. Martinus Church in Spekholzerheide and were known in the area for their repairs of church bells. In 1983, Jo quit his business and died in 1997.