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2 sons of Canadian immigrants make ultimate sacrifice for America

By Drew Montgomery

Among the names etched on the black granite markers at the Carter County War Memorial are Conrad Bitzer and Medon A. Bitzer, who died in two separate American wars. Conrad was killed during a conflict in World War II and Medon, in the Korean War.

They were the sons of Medon and Helga Margarate Bitzer, Germans, who emigrated to the United States from Ontario, Canada, and became American citizens. The Bitzers moved to Johnson City in 1929, when the American Bemberg and North American Rayon plants were built in Elizabethton. Although, the Bitzers lived in Johnson City, they were very close to German families, who lived in Elizabethton and worked at the rayon plants.

The Bitzers’ children were born in Buffalo, N.Y.