PFC. MAURICE RAY SILLS

Killed in Action, Korea, April 18, 1953

Researched & Presented by Linda Cunningham Fluharty.



Buried at Greenwood Cemetery, Ohio County, West Virginia

Born on December 3, 1927 at Moundsville, Marshall County, Maurice "Ray" Sills was the son of Armer R. Sills, born in Maryland, and Daisy Roanoke Ray, born in Marshall County. The parents were 45 years old and 40 years old respectively when they married at Moundsville on June 30, 1925.

At the time of the 1930 Federal Census of Moundsville, the father's name is written as Rex Albert Sills, and he was employed as a janitor in a movie theater. Maurice R. was 2 years old.

In 1940, "Ray" and his mother, Daisy R., lived on Zane Street in Wheeling with Albert and Margaret Peoples; Margaret was Daisy's sister. Albert died in 1948 and his death record states that he owned a gas station.

According to the father's WWII Draft Registration Card, dated 1942, his name was Amer Reginald Sills and he gave his birthdate as January 27, 1880. His address was Cumberland, Maryland, but he gave his wife, Mrs. A. R. Sills, Zane Steet, Wheeling, as the person who would always know his address. He further stated that he was unemployed and disabled. He signed his name as A. Rex Sills. - He was a U. S. Army veteran of World War I. He died in July 1943 in Maryland. His widow and son, residents of Wheeling, are mentioned in his obituary.

Maurice Ray Sills, 22, born in Moundsville, married Mary Etta Taylor, 21, born in Wheeling, on October 14, 1950 in Ohio County. He had graduated from Wheeling High School in 1946, and operated a filling station in Warwood, according to his obituary.

He enlisted in the U. S. Army on August 4, 1952 and was in Company "A" 17th Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division. Private First Class Sills was Killed in Action while fighting the enemy in North Korea on April 18, 1953. He was awarded the Purple Heart, the Combat Infantryman's Badge, the Korean Service Medal, the United Nations Service Medal, the National Defense Service Medal and the Republic of Korea War Service Medal. [per WWI, WWII, & Korean War Casualty Listings.]

The widow, Mary Etta Taylor Sills, married Raymond Eugne Norman on November 17, 1956 at Wheeling.

The mother, Daisy Ray Sills, died in Wheeling in April 1975.

SILLS


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