One of the great things about life at Blue Cross is the growing impact of our Associate Resource Groups, or ARGs. The company currently has 11 different ARGs, which serve to strengthen the workplace culture by bringing together people with common backgrounds and interests.

Each May, the Allies of the Military ARG creates a Memorial Wall to honor those who have fallen in service of our nation. The messages are always powerful and moving, with many personal and heartfelt tributes to family members and friends who made the ultimate sacrifice. Others take the opportunity to post general messages of appreciation.

The Memorial Wall is where I first read about John M. Bischoff. I’d never heard his name before, but a picture with his name on a bracelet caught my eye. I soon discovered that the bracelet owner who shared the story never had the chance to know him personally.

Christina Ricke, principal business systems consultant at Blue Cross, first learned about POW/MIA memorial bracelets nearly 20 years ago. She ordered one and received a randomly selected name − U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class John M. Bischoff of South Carolina.

“It's important to me that fallen soldiers are remembered and their names are spoken.” said Christina.

Christina’s Memorial Wall Dedication

“Every time I open my jewelry box, I see his name…SFC John M. Bischoff. I don’t know him, but I wore his name on my wrist for many years.

According to POWnetwork.org, Sergeant First Class John Malcolm Bischoff was the medic of a four-man, field training team of Company B, 7th Special Forces Group, 1st Special Forces Command. This field training team was attached to the 6th Bataillon d’infanterie (Lao) at Ban Pha Home, about thirty miles north of Vang Vieng. On April 22, 1961, the battalion was subjected to a heavy and accurate artillery barrage and was rapidly flanked at Phou Tesao. Shortly after the battalion commander announced that they were cut off, the perimeter collapsed and the Pathet Lao quickly overran the battalion positions. SFC John M. Bischoff, Sgt. Gerald M. Biber (the radio operator), and some Laotian soldiers jumped aboard an armored car, heading south on Route 13, in a breakout effort. According to Lao survivors, they crouched behind the turret, but the car came under heavy grenade attack. Sgt. Bischoff fired a machine gun from the vehicle until he was shot through the neck and killed. Sgt. Biber had already been wounded and was apparently killed by stick grenades thrown against the armored car. The vehicle was halted, and its crew captured.

SFC Bischoff is one of nearly 600 Americans who disappeared in Laos and did not return. He was declared dead on April 22, 1961. Attempts to locate his remains following the incident have been unsuccessful. Today, Sergeant First Class Bischoff is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.”

Christina continues to help carry on the memory of John Bischoff. “I still do some occasional research to see if he’s been brought home,” she said. “I will always remember his name.”

Allies of the Military

The Allies of the Military Associate Resource Group at Blue Cross supports active and former military service members as well as associates with family members in the military. The group also assists with recruitment of veterans into the Blue Cross workforce and leads the company’s outreach activities with the military community.

Christina is pictured here with her husband, Mike Ricke, First Sergeant with the Minnesota National Guard, and their son, Gavin, getting ready for the 34th Expeditionary Combat Aviation Brigade (ECAB) Ball.