Raymond E. Sheets was born on October 13, 1920 in Decatur, Indiana. His parents were Noah Sheets and Mary Teeple Sheets. He graduated from Decatur High School in 1940 and was part of the "Howling Wolves" student organization. After high school, he was employed by the Decatur Floral company. He was an infantryman and was attached to Company G of the 119th Infantry, 80th Division initially but was later transferred to the 317th Infantry while in France. He would have been 20 years old on October 13. Sheets entered the army July 15, 1942. He took training at Camp Forest. Tenn. and specialized training at Camp Riley and Camp Phillips, Kan. Phoenix, Ariz. and Fort Dix. N. J. before going overseas in June of 1944. He landed in England and then went to France shortly after the Normandy invasion. Raymond would achieve the rank of Staff Sergeant. Sheets was killed in action while in Metz, France. The battle of Metz was a bloody one where Allies fought to capture the city of Metz. For his service, Sgt. Sheets earned the WWII Victory Medal, European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, American Campaign Medal, and the Purple Heart for combat wounds resulting in death. Information collected and researched by Chance Gephart, 2014.
"Battle of Metz." - Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 17 Dec. 2014. http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Metz.
"Find A Grave - Millions of Cemetery Records and Online Memorials." Find A Grave - Millions of Cemetery Records and Online Memorials. Web. 17 Dec. 2014. http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=32449324.
Indiana Historical Bureau, comp. Gold Star Honor Roll: Adams County. Bloomington: Indiana War History Commission, 1949. Print. Vol. 1 of Indiana in World War II.
"Message Boards." Raymond E. Sheets [1920. Web. 17 Dec. 2014. http://boards.ancestry.com/localities.northam.usa.states.indiana.counties.adams/3837/mb.ashx.