SGT Arthur Ray Payne

SGT Arthur Ray Payne was born 25 May 1923 in Ronda, West Virginia. He was the 2nd of the 5 children born to Lewis McClure and Virginia J (Smith) Payne. His father was a coal miner but by 1940 was working as a timekeeper for the Works Progress Administration earning a reported 1939 income of $1270. The family was living on Route 79 in Cabin Creek, West Virginia in 1940. Arthur was working for Wyatt Coal Company by 1942 and as a miner in 1943.

Arthur was drafted in March 1943. After his basic military training and before he was sent to the European theater he married Elizabeth Louise Crouch. On 5 Jul 1944 PFC Payne was transferred from the replacement depot to L Company 116th Infantry. He fought with the unit at Saint-Lo and Vire. SGT Payne was wounded in the attack on Brest on 2 Sep 1944 and died of his wound(s) on 4 Sep 1944. We do not know when he was promoted to SGT.

SGT Payne was repatriated in 1952 and re-interred in Hill Cemetery in Middleport, Ohio.

Arthur and Elizabeth had no children. Younger brother, Homer Edward Payne, served as a PFC in the U.S. Army 1956 to 1958.