Louis M. Cowley, the son of Louis B. and Buelah June Cowley (nee Morton), grew up in Oak Park, Illinois. His mother, June, died in 1933 when he was only 11 years old. His father remarried and his half-brother, Bertram, was born in about 1935. Louis finished 3 years of high school and joined the Air Corps on January 6, 1942 as a Private. Within two years he was a Technical Sergeant flying on bombing runs in Europe. It was on one of those runs over Cambrai, France, that the B17 he was in was hit by enemy flak and destroyed. One crewman managed to parachute to safety, but the rest of the crew, including T-Sergeant Louis M. Cowley died. His body was returned to the U.S. and was buried along with his mother and grandparents in Forest Home Cemetery, Forest Park, Illinois.

Louis M. Cowley, the son of Louis B. and Buelah June Cowley (nee Morton), grew up in Oak Park, Illinois. His mother, June, died in 1933 when he was only 11 years old. His father remarried and his half-brother, Bertram, was born in about 1935. Louis finished 3 years of high school and joined the Air Corps on January 6, 1942 as a Private. Within two years he was a Technical Sergeant flying on bombing runs in Europe. It was on one of those runs over Cambrai, France, that the B17 he was in was hit by enemy flak and destroyed. One crewman managed to parachute to safety, but the rest of the crew, including T-Sergeant Louis M. Cowley died. His body was returned to the U.S. and was buried along with his mother and grandparents in Forest Home Cemetery, Forest Park, Illinois.