John D. Maples

Born: February 16, 1913  Died: February14, 1943

John D. Maples came from a hardworking family. In 1920, when John was 7, His father, Charlie,  was a laborer in a cotton mill, his mother, Sallie, was a housewife. By 1920 his oldest sister, Lula, was already working in the cotton mill at age 16. John had two older brothers, George and Dan, and a younger brother, Paul. Paul was also killed in combat in 1945.

John joined the Army in WWII and served as a Corporal in a combat battalion in the North African theater in Tunesia. He was killed on February 14, 1943. His family was initially informed he had been captured and was in a POW camp. On March 10, the Department of War informed them that was an error and that he had actually died in combat on February 14.