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Date of Birth: 25 Sep 1929
Died On: 10 Oct 1994
Street Address: 138 Osborn Road
Service Number: 092-20-7716
Branch of Service: U.S. Army- Korea
Donald E. King was bom Sept 25, 1929, at United Hospital in Port Chester to Walter E. and Gertrude Burke King. He has 3 brothers, Walter Jr, Martin, and Vincent and the family lived at 138 Osborn Road and were members of the Church of the Resurrection. His ancestors immigrated to America from Ireland.
Donald enlisted July 10, 1952 and served in the US Army during the Korean War. He was a decorated Army veteran attached to the 2nd Infantry Division.
In August 1951, the Division was on the offensive, ordered to attack a series of ridges that had been designated threats to the Eighth Army’s line. These actions would devolve into the battles of Bloody Ridge and Heartbreak Ridge.
The Division would not receive relief until October, with its infantry regiments having suffered heavy losses. The 23rd Infantry Regiment bore the brunt of the damage, having been severely mauled on Heartbreak Ridge.
The 2nd Division was withdrawn after possessing both Bloody and Heartbreak Ridges, and the damage they inflicted upon the PVA/KPA that held the ridges was estimated at 25,000 casualties. Ridge warfare was not embarked upon again as a military strategy for the remainder of the war.
Donald was honorably discharged from the Army on July 1, 1954.
Following his service in the Korea, Donald graduated from St Francis Xavier University in Antigonish, Nova Scotia, Canada, in 1956 with a bachelor’s degree in commerce.
Donald married Rhoda Cameron and moved to White Plains to start a family. He had lived in Rye for over 20 years.
He went on to study real estate at New York University and was the assistant director of real estate at the university for 31 years. He was a member of NYUs Catholic Center at the NYU Alumni Association.
Donald E. King, a former Rye resident who worked at New York University, died October 10, 1994 at his home in White Plains. He was 65 and had been a resident of White Plains for 34 years.
Thank you so much for this article! I was literally just doing a search on Donald King, my grandfather, and his military history. Thank you for remembering him years later, he was a proud American, a great father and the best grandfather ever.