When John E. King was born in March 1897 in Asheboro, North Carolina, his father, James, was 29 and his mother, Nancy, was 28. He had nine siblings. He enlisted in the regular Army of the United States at Charlotte October 1915.

He saw active service on the Mexican border, at one time suffering a wound in his neck when chasing bandits who had captured a man and two girls at Big Bend, Texas. He went to France in the summer of 1917 with the first of General Pershing's soldiers. At the time of his death, he was in the Signal Section of Head Quarter's Company, 18th Infantry, 1st Division. He was wounded on 28 May 1918, and died from those wounds on June 2, 1918. He was cited for bravery and for meritorious service.

He was first buried in Flanders, France, and then in April of 1921 his body was returned to Asheboro, attended by a military escort. He was 21 years old at the time of his death. He was buried in Flag Springs United Methodist Church Cemetery, Asheboro, Randolph County, North Carolina, USA on April 3, 1921.

Source of information: www.findagrave.com, www.ancestry.com