Arthur Sexton

Arthur Sexton (Sept. 20, 1912 – Aug. 1, 1944) was a soldier from New River killed in France during World War II.

See Also: Scott Countians killed in war

Biography

Born Sept. 20, 1912, Arthur Sexton was the son of Jasper R. Sexton (1885-1959) and Emma Jane Phillips (1889-1926). His siblings included Ethel Sexton (born 1909), Ernie Litton (1914-1994), Wilma West (1917-2018), Willie Sexton (1920-1923), and twin infant sisters.

The Sexton family lived at New River. Following Emma’s death in 1926, Jasper remarried to Maggie High of New River.

Arthur married Leola Parson (1924-2023), the daughter of Christopher Columbus Parson (1900-1963) and Gertrude Willoughby (1907-1986). They had a son, Norman Lee Sexton (1941-1993).

World War II

PFC Sexton enlisted in the U.S. Army in January 1942 and was assigned to the 16th Infantry Regiment. He was wounded in the shoulder on April 1, 1943 in North Africa. He returned to active duty and was killed in action on August. 1, 1944 in Brécy, France.

Aftermath

PFC Sexton’s body was returned to Scott County for burial at Reed Cemetery. He received the Purple Heart. He is memorialized on the First Infantry Division monument in Mons, Belgium. He is also listed on the VFW Post 5669 Memorial Wall in Oneida, the Scott County Veterans Memorial in Huntsville, and the East Tennessee Veterans Memorial in Knoxville.

Leola remarried to Robert George McCoy (1923-1990), a World War II veteran from Georgia, and they had three more sons: Raymond, John Keith, and Robert Alan, and a daughter, Linda Kay Strickland. She died in 2023 in Georgia. Norman Lee Sexton served in the U.S. Air Force and died in 1993 in Georgia.