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Personal info

Full name
KELLEY, Kenneth Lawrence
Date of birth
4 July 1923
Age
21
Place of birth
Oketo, Marshall County, Kansas
Hometown
Oketo, Marshall County, Kansas

Military service

Service number
37523536
Rank
Sergeant
Function
unknown
Unit
E Company,
2nd Battalion,
325th Glider Infantry Regiment,
82nd Airborne Division
Awards
Purple Heart

Death

Status
Killed in Action
Date of death
7 January 1945
Place of death
Area Baraque de Fraiture, Belgium

Grave

Cemetery
American War Cemetery Henri-Chapelle
Plot Row Grave
E 6 57

Immediate family

Members
William L. Kelley (father)
Bessie M. (Barnes) Kelley (mother)
Clyde G. Kelley (brother)
Milton M. Kelley (brother)
Gale L. Kelley (brother)

More information

Kenneth Kelly graduated from Oketo High School and worked for the railroad before he enlisted on 2 April 1943 and was sent overseas in July 1944.

According to a newspaper article, Sgt Kenneth L. Kelley was the first soldier of his town, killed in WWII. His uncle, Cpl Sid Kelley, was the first man of the town, killed in World War I.

Sgt Kelley was wounded in the Netherlands in November 1944 and sent to a hospital in France. His parents did not know he had returned to duty until they received notification of his death.

Source of information: Stephanie Pepin, Peter Schouteten, Astrid van Erp, www.wwiimemorial.com, www.ww2-airborne.us, www.ancestry.com - Family Trees / Headstone Application for Military Veterans, www.newspapers.com - The Marysville Advocate

Photo source: Peter Schouteten