Reynold John King was born on February 1, 1918, in Enfield, Tompkins County, New York. He was the son of Olen Alexander and Jennie King. He enlisted in the U.S. Army on January 20, 1942, and joined the First Special Service Force (FSSF) as a Technician 4th Grade after basic training. As part of the elite FSSF, King trained rigorously across various locations and saw his first deployment to the Aleutian Islands. By late 1943, he was sent to Italy, where he fought in intense battles, including Monte la Difensa, Monte Maggiore, and Anzio. On June 4, 1944, the FSSF helped liberate Rome.
In August 1944, King participated in the invasion of Southern France as part of Operation Dragoon. On August 15, near Fort de l'Eminence on Port-Cros Island, he was killed in action while courageously covering his squad’s withdrawal. T4 King is now buried in the Woodlawn National Cemetery, Elmira, Chemung County, New York, USA. In his honor, the Elmira Army Reserve Center was named after him in 1958.
Distinguished Service Cross Citation:
The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress July 9, 1918, takes pride in presenting the Distinguished Service Cross (Posthumously) to Technician Fourth Grade Reynold J. King (ASN: 32211556), United States Army, for extraordinary heroism in connection with military operations against an armed enemy while serving with the Fourth Company, First Regiment, 1st Special Service Force, in action against the enemy near Fort Eminence, Ile de Port Cros, France, on the morning of 15 August 1944. Repulsed by devastating machine gun and mortar fire in its assault on the strongly defended Fort Eminence, Sergeant King's company was momentarily disorganized. Rallying the men of his light machine gun squad, Sergeant King, upon his own initiative moved them to a flank position where fire could be brought to bear on the determined enemy. In crawling well forward to an exposed position to get better observation and to determine the effect of his squad's machine gun fire on the enemy, he succeeded at the same time, with deadly rifle fire, in silencing an enemy machine gun. When his company was directed to withdraw, Sergeant King ordered his squad to remain in position and directed the covering fore for its movement to new positions. The withdrawal of the company completed, he continued to remain in place while he protected, in turn, the withdrawal of his squad, and while thus engaged he was killed by an enemy sniper. The actions of Sergeant King throughout the engagement were above and beyond the normal call of duty and are in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Army.
Source of information: valor.militarytimes.com, www.findagrave.com