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Saul Kokotovich was the third son of Serbian immigtants.

He enlisted at Fort Benjamin Harrison, Indiana on 2 March 1943. He scored high on the army’s classification test and he joined the Army Specialized Training Program (ASTP). In March 1944, when the army curtailed the ASTP program, he was transferred to the infantry.

Just before going overseas, he married his longtime girlfriend, Martha, at Camp Maxey’s chapel.

On 15 December 1944 elements of the 99th Infantry Division were dugg in on Hill 627 near the German border. Close to midnight Saul's foxhole buddy went to the foxhole of Mike Gracenin, woke him up, and said, "Koke wants you, I think he's dying." Mike was much more than a Squad Sergeant. To Saul he was also a fellow Serbian. Mike crawled in Saul's foxhole and covered it with his poncho. He gathered Saul in one arm, lit his cigarette lighter, and saw that nothing could be done. Concussion from a shell burst had shattered his organs. Mike said the Lord's Prayer in Serbian which is what he promised Saul he would do should anything ever happen to him. He then crossed Saul's arms and made the sign of the cross over him three times. Mike sadly returned to his foxhole and waited until morning to put Saul on a stretcher to be carried down the slope of Hill 627. When orders were given to retreat, Saul and three other casualties were quickly buried in four shallow "temporary" graves. It was the start of the largest land battle ever fought by the United States Army. The combined casualties of American, British, and German troops killed, wounded or captured during the Battle of the Bulge would average 4.449 per day for 41 days. The tragic news that Saul had been killed hit his family hard. His mother never got over it. She wore a watch pin, until the day she died. It was a gift from Saul.

His remains were recovered on 17 April 2001 and he is buried at Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery.