Joseph Wallace Batch – Colonel, United States Army

 From a contemporary press report:

Joseph Wallace Batch, 90, a physician who served more than 30 years in the Army Medical Corps before retiring as a colonel in 1967, died February 7, 2001. at his home in Olney after a heart attack.

Dr. Batch was an orthopedic surgeon who commanded Army hospitals at Fort Hood, Tex., and Munich. He also served as chief of orthopedics at other Army hospitals.

After he retired from the Army, he settled in Olney and worked until the early 1970s as a medical director for Leisure Worldretirement communities across the country.

Dr. Batch was born in Washington and raised in Arlington. He was a graduate of St. John’s College High School andGeorgetown University and its medical school.

He interned at Letterman General Hospital at the Presidio in San Francisco. He completed his training in orthopedic surgery at Washington University.

He entered active military duty in 1937 as a camp surgeon for the Civilian Conservation Corps in Maryland. He took part in theWorld War II invasions of North Africa, Sicily, Italy, southern France and Germany, where he was among the first American medical officers to enter the concentration camp at Dachau.

He was a member of the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery and a fellow of the American Academy of OrthopaedicSurgeons.

His honors included the Legion of Merit and a Bronze Star.

His wife, Doris M. Batch, died in 1997, and their daughter, Joan Batch, died in 1945.

Survivors include two sons, Richard Batch of Bethesda and Jim Batch of Potomac; and four grandchildren.


BATCH, JOSEPH W., M.D., COL. USA, (Ret.)

On Wednesday, February 7, 2001, of Olney MD. Beloved husband of the late Doris M. Batch; devoted father to Richard A. and James W. Batch; brother of Henrietta Smith; grandfather of Chloe, Miranda, Jordan and Lauren Batch. Mass of Christian Burial will be offered 10 a.m. Monday, February 12 at St. Peter’s Catholic Church, 2900 Olney Sandy Springs Rd., Olney, MD. Interment with Full Military Honors will be held Tuesday, February 20 at Arlington National Cemetery. Friends are invited to assemble at the Administration Building by 2:45 p.m.

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