WWII-KIA-COTTEN, Freeman Alva
COTTEN, Freeman Alva - water tender 3C US Navy - KIA - 24 June 1920 - 25 September 1944 - lost at sea. He is listed on his parents, Alva and Nellie (Darnell) Cotten's tombstone in Mt. Hope Cemetery, Covington, Fountain County, Indiana but his body was never recovered when his ship sank. He is still listed as "Missing." He received a Purple Heart and is listed on a monument in Normandy, France.
Source: 1940s obituaries collected by Rose Marie Sutherlin provided to kbz via Betty Dotson (thanks sweetie)
Freeman Alva Cotten, aged 24, son of Mr. and Mrs. Alva Cotten, living near Covington has been declared dead by the US Navy Department according to word received Monday by his parents. Cotten, a water tender
third class, who has been reported missing since Sept 25, 1944, when his ship went down off the coast of France is now officially announced dead. He was born June 24, 1920 and attended school in Danville, Illinois
until 1939 when the family moved near Covington.