The collection includes correspondence and some photographic material documenting the service of Richard Lewis Kinney (1927-2015) of Lexington, North Carolina in the United States Army in occupied Japan at the end of World War II. The collection provides a glimpse of an American soldier's point of view and experience serving overseas during the post-war occupation of Japan.
Richard Lewis Kinney was born in Davidson County, North Carolina on January 22, 1927, the son of Nunmer Roby and Lilian Senter Kinney. In April 1944, he joined the U.S. Army, entering Fort Bragg and completing boot camp at Camp Gordon, Georgia. After additional training at Fort George S. Meade in Maryland, he transferred to the west coast before deployment to Occupied Japan. He spent the remaining eleven months of his service overseas. In 1947, he married Elizabeth Myers (1926-2021) daughter of William Jennings Bryan Myers, Sr. and Cada Lucile Leonard of Davidson County. Their children include Richard Bryan Kinney of Burlington and Linda Sue Kinney Perry of Winston-Salem. Kinney was a retired employee of the United States Postal Service. He died in Lexington, NC on April 3, 2015.
"Richard Lewis Kinney, January 22, 1927-April 3, 2015." Davidson Funeral Home. https://www.davidsonfuneralhome.net. Date Accessed March 14, 2023.
The collection includes approximately 120 World War II-era letters, written by Richard Lewis Kinney, originally of 22 Vance Circle, Lexington, North Carolina. The correspondence dates from 1944-1946 and is addressed chiefly by Kinney to his parents Nunmer Roby Kinney and Lillian (Senter) Kinney of Lexington, and his sister, Ruth (Kinney) Mashburn of Lexington.
Topics of letters include basic training, the end of hostilities, and the experiences of American soldiers in Occupied Japan. Of note are Kinney's involvement in the planning and preparation of a rodeo held on International Allied Armistice Day Rodeo at Meiji Stadium in Tokyo (November 1945), a prank played on Kinney on his birthday (January 24, 1946), and his experiences with natural events in Japan, including an earthquake, tidal wave, and typhoon (April 1946).
While his duties and experiences as a soldier in the U.S. Army are detailed, much of the correspondence is devoted to asking for news from home, commenting on events and people described in letters he received from family and friends, and expressing his desire to reunite with his family. Some miscellaneous correspondence includes letters sent to Kinney from the Armed Forces prior to his enlistment, letters from fellow service members following the war, and correspondence addressed to family members serving in the Armed Forces. Also included are negatives of unidentified friends or family and one photograph of a house in Greensboro.
March 15, 2023, 1 cu. ft.; Collection includes correspondence and some photographic material (1944-1962) related to Richard Lewis Kinney's time serving as a soldier in the United States Army following the cessation of hostilities during World War II and the occupation of Japan.
Purchased from Roy C. Wakefield November 19, 2022.
Processed by John Dunning March 2023
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