Pvt. Raymond McLaughlin was the son of Eli McLaughlin, Sr., Walker Road, New Centerville, and Mrs. Alfred Leondias, of Philadelphia.  He was one of 12 children, of which four brothers served in World War II.  Another brother, Pvt. Eli McLaughlin, Jr., one time football and basketball star of Tredyffrin-Easttown High School, was stationed at the U. S. Air Corps at Muroc Air Field, California, at the time of Raymond’s death.  Another brother, Herbert, 41, at this time, was a patient at the Bethesda Naval Hospital, Bethesda, Maryland, where he had been hospitalized since being wounded on a carrier near Iwo Jima in March 1945.  In addition to his brothers, this young hero was survived by two sisters, both at home.

Pvt. McLaughlin was a former student of Tredyffrin-Eastttown High School and enlisted in the U. S. Army in the field artillery on June 1, 1948.  His father said that Raymond left his New England training camp on August 6, and he did not hear from him again until he arrived at the West Coast sometime later. The young man told his father in a letter written from a battle line 20 miles south of Traegu, Korea, on August 30, 1950, “Don’t worry about me, I’ll be all right.  I’m with the First Cavalry Division and only a short distance from the front.”   This young hero, 20 years of age, died in action on Sept. 8, 1950, just 13 days after he landed at Pusan, in southern Korea.  He was the first Upper Main Line soldier to pay the supreme sacrifice in the Korean War.

Military services were held on July 20, 1951 at the Towson Funeral Home, 43 W. Lancaster Ave., Downingtown, Pennsylvania.  The military burial, also on July 20, was at the Hopewell Cemetery in Downingtown.