Portion of Route 64 officially renamed after Chief Warrant Officer Christian Koch
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MENDON, N.Y. (WHEC) — A portion of the New York State highway system was officially renamed in honor of one the National Guard soldiers killed in a helicopter crash earlier this year.
New York Senate Republican Leader Rob Ortt announced Wednesday State Highway 64 within the town of Mendon is now known as the "Chief Warrant Officer 4 Christian J. Koch Memorial Highway."
Koch, and fellow guardsmen, Steven Skoda, and Daniel Prial were killed when their helicopter went down in a field in Mendon on Jan. 20. All three were honored with funeral services near their hometowns in the following week.
Koch lived near the highway soon to be named in his honor. He grew up in Livingston County and went to school in York. He was also a 2010 graduate of SUNY Brockport.
Koch served in the war in Afghanistan in 2012 and 2013 and the war in Iraq in 2008 and 2009. He joined the Army after 9/11.
A look at the sign along State Highway 64.[Senator Rob Ortt]
The joint release from Rob Ortt and Assemblywoman Marjorie Byrnes, who pushed for the renaming, says the dedicated portion stretches 1.7 miles along the route.
Koch was just five days short of his 40th birthday when he was killed.