Kermit Pettit
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Kermit Pettit Vonore
Baptist Cem., Monroe Co, Tn
Two Tennessee Service Men Killed in Murder and
Suicide Pvt. Kermit E. Pettit of Vonore, was shot to death yesterday by a fellow soldier,
Pvt. William H. Jones of Silver Point, Tenn., at an Army camp near Boston,
the Public Relations Office of the First Service Command announced last
night. Jones immediately took his own
life, the communication said. Col., John J. Donovan, who
identified the principals, described Jones, as the assailant of Pettit. Denied a leave Saturday, since he was to
report for guard duty at midnight, Jones was said to have failed to report on
schedule, entering his barracks about 2 a.m. with Pettit. Another guard, Pvt. Jesse
D. Frazier refused Jones the loan of two clips of bullets, which are carried
by all sentries, he said Jones got the ammunition from his own locker. "Then he loaded his
rifle and turned towards Pettit," Frazier said, quoting Jones as saying
to Pettit. "You're going on your last guard." Frazier told superiors
Jones fired one shot at Pettit and ran out of the barrack. While going to the aid of Pettit, Frazier
heard another shot. He said he rushed
outside to find Jones dead with his rifle beside him. Army officers at the camp
said there had been no indications of bad feelings between the two men. An Army Board of Inquiry will be convened
to investigate, they announced. Pettit, who went into the
Army this summer, graduated from Vonore High
School. The Knoxville Journal,
Mon., Nov 2, 1942 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tenn. Soldier Kills Vonore
Pal and Then Self at Boston Post A medical examiner returned
a finding of murder and suicide today in the deaths of two Tennessee soldiers
who were shot early yesterday after keeping a double date with two girls near
their post at Boston, Mass. First Service Command said
Pvt. William H. Jones, of Silver Point, Tenn., fired three rifle bullets into
his friend, Pvt. Kermit E. Pettit, of Vonore,
Monroe County, at a Coast Artillery station near Boston, according to a
United Press dispatch. The parents of Private
Pettit, Mr. & Mrs. O.C. Pettit, of Vonore, were
notified of their son's death yesterday.
An Uncle, R.H. Pettit, lives on Woodlawn Pike. The UP dispatch said that
Pvt. James P. Frazier, of Woodville, Ala., who was on roving guard duty at
the time, witnessed the shootings. Jones and Pettit were
jovially discussing their Saturday night date, as he entered an outpost
building at 2 a.m., Private Frazier said. Private Jones, who was
going on guard duty, wanted to borrow some ammunition, but Private Frazier
had none to spare, so Jones went to an adjacent room and got two clips of
bullets. Then Private Frazier
related, the two friends resumed their conversation and suddenly Jones
exclaimed: "It doesn't make any
difference. You've gone on your last
guard duty." He shot then. Army officials at Boston
said Private Jones had been denied leave Saturday night but nevertheless had
kept his double date. Private Pettit, 22, worked
for a short time in 1939, his brother, Glen Pettit, of Vonore,
said today. He entered the service in
February, he added. Surviving besides the
parents and brother, are another brother, Corp. L.H. Pettit, of Camp Gordon,
Ga.; three sisters, Mrs. James Kline, of Cleveland, Tenn., a sister in
Cleveland, Ohio, and one in New Orleans. Glen Pettit, said that the
telegram telling of his brother's death stated that he was "killed
instantly, accidentally." The Knoxville
News-Sentinel, Mon. Nov 2, 1942
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