Private First Class Kitchings was a member of Company I, 3rd Battalion, 279th Infantry Regiment, 45th Infantry Division. He contracted meningocci meningitis and was evacuated to the 64th Field Hospital at Koje-do, South Korea, where he died on 3 April 1953.

Kitchings was awarded the Combat Infantryman's Badge, the Korean Service Medal, the United Nations Service Medal, the National Defense Service Medal and the Korean War Service Medal.