Private First Class Raymond Kenneth King was born July 1, 1908 to Charles Henry and Mattie Butler King in Sevierville. However, by 1940 he was living in Prince Edward County, Virginia. On May 1, 1943, he married Margaret M. Hall (1920-1998) in Maine. He had enlisted in the Army the previous year (Feb. 11, 1942) from Camp Lee, Virginia. He served in Company C of the 179th Infantry Regiment, 45th Division in the Italian Campaign. He was killed in action in Italy on May 3, 1944 and is buried at the Sicily-Rome American Cemetery in Nuttuno, Città Metropolitana di Roma Capitale, Lazio, Italy.
King’s memorial page at the East Tennessee Veterans Memorial may be found here: https://www.etvma.org/veterans/raymond-king-10506/
A few days before his death, King wrote his sister Edna King Fancher (1912-1999). The letter may be found below, but the transcription follows:
To Mrs. Clarence Fancher
Sevierville, Tennessee
From: PFC R. K. King
Co. C 179th INF
April 30
Dear sister and all –
Received your letter yesterday glad to hear that all is well. This finds me all right, but we are going back to the front tonight, and anything can happen up there, as it is pretty bad in places.
They sure believe in fighting for their Hitler.
I have had it pretty good for two weeks or more –
I am going to be in a bad place to celebrate my anniversary tomorrow, hope the next one is in a more enjoyable place.
Margaret thinks she would like to come down in June but don’t know what she will do. She has a vacation then. I guess she needs one; she has been working too much for her own good.
Hope this war will soon be over with as this kind of life don’t suit me in the least.
The weather is just find here now as we have plenty of sun shine.
With love,
Raymond.
