Erik N. May, age 26, from Independence, Kansas, Montgomery county.
Service era: Afghanistan
Military history: 2nd Battalion, 16th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, Fort Riley, Kansas.
Date of death: Saturday, July 14, 2012
Death details: Died while supporting Operation Enduring Freedom while in Ghazni Province, Afghanistan.
Source: Department of Defense, Military Times
Otis Carter, age 20, from Independence, Kansas, Montgomery county.
Parents: Walter C. Carter
Service era: Vietnam
Date of death: Wednesday, September 30, 1970
Death details: Killed in action in Vietnam
Cemetery: Mount Hope
Source: National Archives, Witchita Eagle (1970)
Sam John Kourkos, age 20, from Independence, Kansas, Montgomery county.
Service era: World War II
Date of death: Sunday, November 21, 1943
Death details: On December 6, 2016, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) identified the remains of Private First Class Sam John Kourkos, missing from World War II. Private First Class Kourkos entered the U.S. Marine Corps from Missouri and was a member of Company M, 3rd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, which took part in the Battle of Tarawa. On November 21, 1943, he was killed in action against Japanese forces on Betio Island, Tarawa Atoll in the Gilbert Islands. He was buried on Tarawar following his loss, and his remains were disinterred shortly after the war but could not be identified at the time, and were reburied as “unknowns” in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, Hawaii. In 2016, DPAA exhumed a casket from Section F, Grave 1224 at the NMCP, and the remains were accessioned at a DPAA laboratory the same day where analysts used modern forensic techniques along with the circumstantial evidence and identified PFC Kourkos’ remains.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency