John Fairly Arthur was born in 1886 in Camden, Kershaw County, South Carolina. He served on the Mexican border as a member of the Pennsylvania National Guard. Prior to that, he had served four years in the regular army and had seen service in the Philippines. After reaching France, he attended an officers' training school and was commissioned a Lieutenant. He served in the U.S. Army during World War I as a Second Lieutenant in Company E, 18th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division. He was Killed in Action but declared "Missing" on October 6, 1918 and is memorialized on Tablets of the Missing, Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery and Memorial, Romagne-sous-Montfaucon, Departement de la Meuse, Lorraine, France.

Source of information: www.findagrave.com, www.abmc.gov