Identified personal item
Paperweight identified to T/5 Perry J. Kight
1945-1946 German Made US-zone of occupation paperweight. The paperweight is made from glass, jeweler-engraved with the Combat Infantryman's Badge, the soldier's name, his Company, Regiment, Division and 'Spiegelau Germany'. At the end of World War II, Spiegelau was in the US-zone of the 330th Infantry Regiment in Allied-occupied Germany, Bavaria, close to the Czechslovakia border. This type of paperweight and others like it were given as souvenirs to US soldiers who were tasked with governing the region.
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T/5 Perry J. Kight
Technician 5th Grade
Perry J. Kight
Technician 5th Grade Perry J. Kight
Perry Joseph Kight was born on July 10, 1920, in Clarksburg, West Virginia, to Mary Catherine Lynch (1898–1985) and Boyd Ray Kight (1899–1982). Perry Kight married Helen Olivia Hunter in Camden, North Carolina, on February 7, 1942, when he was 21 years old.
Perry J. Kight enlisted (#33229542) on November 6, 1942, in Richmond, Virginia. While on basic training, his daughter Helen was born on March 24, 1943. He was one of the early members of the Division. He was with them at basic training in Camp Atterbury, Indiana, then went to the Tennessee maneuvers and to Camp Breckinridge, Kentucky. He left the US early April, 1944. Perry Kight stayed with Company B, 330th Infantry for the remainder of the war. The Morning Reports from July 25, 1944 listed him as promoted from Private First Class to T/5. For his service he was awarded, among other decorations, the Combat Infantryman's Badge.
Perry Joseph Kight died on September 5, 2006, in Virginia Beach, Virginia, when he was 86 years old. He was preceded in death by his daughter Helen McClease (1943-2002), his son Perry Wayne Kight (1956-2004) and his wife Helen Olivia Kight (1924-2005).