King spent three and half years as a captive of the Japanese and was often mistreated by them because of his rank. Both Wainwright and King expected court-martial for disobeying the no-surrender order. However, they were treated as heroes when they were finally freed. Citation for the first award of the Distinguished-Service Medal to General King:  Edgar King, brigadier general (then colonel), United States Army. For exceptionally meritorious and distinguished service to the government in the performance of duty of great responsibility. Brigadier General King conceived and skillfully formulated a plan for the operations in the war of the Medical Department in Hawaii, the planning of which was brilliantly justified by its success in battle. His execution of this plan on December 7th, 1941, was performed with such consummate skill to save an unprecedented proportion of wounded, elicit the admiration of the medical world, and bring distinction upon the Medical Department of the Army. Entered military service from Alabama. After the war, King returned to the United States where he retired to a home in Georgia, devoting himself to many volunteer causes, such as the Red Cross. He died in 1958, and is buried at the Cemetery of St. John in the Wilderness Episcopal Church – Flat Rock, NC. Writer John Grisham utilizes King as a character in his fictional novel The Reckoning (Grisham novel). Part of the story takes place at Camp O'Donnell during World War II.