William Morris Kitchen was born on 11 November 1914 in Swainsboro, Georgia. He was a graduate of Science Hill high school. He attended Tusculum college and the University of South Carolina. He married Mary Kelley in 1939. He entered regular service with the Nantional Guard on February 24, 1941 and was discharged from the 191st Field Artillery at Camp Forrest in November 1941 and reenlisted as an aviation cadet at Maxwell Field, Alabama on November 19, 1941. He had worked as a newspaper man on papers in Kingsport, Knoxville, Johnson City and Asheville, N.C.

Private Aviation Cadet, Air Corps
Private Kitchen was an Air Cadet and Flight instructor. He died of his injuries caused by an accident on the highway at Washington College in Tennessee on 24 November 1943.

The Kingsport Times News, 25 November 1943
Tri-city airport instructor dies in traffic wreck. Johnson City, Tenn. – William M. (Bill) Kitchen, 26, Limestone, CAA instructor at Tri-City airport was instantly killed shortly after 3:30 a.m. Wednesday near Washington College when the motorcycle he was riding crashed into a truck. State patrolman C.W. Walker, who investigated the crash, said the accident occurred as Kitchen attempted to pass the truck which was driven by Magistrate J.E. Hartman. He said Hartman was turning left into a driveway when the motorcycle struck. A local undertaker said Kitchen was thrown clear of the wreck He said the dead instructor suffered a broken neck, and internal injuries. A former newspaper man, Kitchen had worked on papers in Kingsport, Knowville, Johnson City and Asheville, N.C.

He was survived by his wife, Mary Kelly Kitchen of Limestone; one brother, Wallace A. Kitchen of Atlanta, Ga.; his foster mother, Mrs. E.O. Henley of Limestone and one aunt, Mrs. M.A. Kennedy of Swansbury, Ga.

  • Rank: Private, Aviation Cadet
  • Date of birth:
  • 11 November 1914
  • Date of death: 24 November 1943
  • County: Washington
  • Hometown: Limestone
  • Service Branch: Army/Army Air Forces
  • Division/Assignment: Air Corps
  • Conflict: World War II
  • Burial/Memorial Location: Urbana Cemetery, Telford, Washington County, TN
  • Location In Memorial: Pillar XIX, Middle Panel
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