Edward Postell King Jr. (July 4, 1884 – August 31, 1958) was a major general in the United States Army who gained prominence for leading the defense of the Bataan Peninsula in the Battle of Bataan against the Japanese invasion of the Philippines in World War II. Education King was born in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1884. As the grandson and nephew of Confederate soldiers during the American Civil War, King had a strong desire to join the US Army. He entered the University of Georgia, where he was a member of the Phi Delta Theta fraternity, graduating in 1902. Early military career Initially, King's family wanted him to be a lawyer, but he desired a more adventurous career. He was commissioned as a second lieutenant of infantry in the Georgia National Guard in February 1905. King applied for and received a commission as a second lieutenant of field artillery in the Army in 1908. He served with distinction during World War I, earning the Distinguished Service Medal. On 9 July 1918, President Wilson authorized the awarding of the Army's Distinguished Service Medal to Major King, for exceptionally meritorious and distinguished services in a duty of great responsibility during World War I. As principal assistant to the chief of Field Artillery, from 23 March 1918 to 11 November 1918, Major King contributed largely to the successful solution of the difficult problems of expansion, organization, and training which then confronted the Field Artillery. After the war, King was an honor graduate of the Command and General Staff School in 1923 and then graduated from the Army War College in 1930 and the Navy War College in 1937. Between World War I and World War II, he held several important assignments, including that of instructor in both the Army and Navy War Colleges. In 1940, King was sent to the Philippines, where he was promptly promoted to brigadier general; he served as General Douglas MacArthur's second highest-ranking ground officer, after General Jonathan Wainwright. World War II On 11 March 1942, by order of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, MacArthur left for Australia. Wainwright was appointed to succeed MacArthur as General of the Armies of the Philippines while King became the commanding general of the Philippine-American forces on the Bataan Peninsula. At the time, King was the commander of the artillery. After months of fighting the invading Japanese Army and with food and medicine exhausted,