Roland Thomas Kinney was born in 1900 in Los Angeles, California. On June 23,1918, shortly after graduating from Los Angeles High School, Kinney left San Pedro, California for a trip to Asia with his brother Wendell. He worked as the Acting Assistant Storekeeper on the S.S. Ecuador for the Pacific Mail Steamship Company (his brother got the position of Quartermaster). He returned to California on September 11, 1918.
From the description of Record of a voyage to the Orient in 1918, 1918. (Huntington Library, Art Collections & Botanical Gardens). WorldCat record id: 743994003