S/Sgt. Louis G. Kyriazopulos was born in River Grove, Illinois, on September 6, 1919 to Charles and Martha Kyriazopulos, and he had six sisters and two brothers. His mother died sometime in the 1920s. His family lived about his family’s restaurant at 2826 North Thatcher Avenue, River Grove, Illinois. When he was 13 years old, his family’s restaurant was being robbed. He was asleep in their apartment, above the business, when one of the robbers fired his gun and woke him. He grabbed his father’s shotgun and aimed it out the window at one of the robbers and wounded him in the arm. The robbers quickly left and he fired the other shell spraying the car, which was later found abandoned, with shotgun pallets in it. He graduated from River Grove School and Proviso Township High School in 1936. His father died in 1938. He attended college for three years before going to work for himself. When the Selective Service Act became law on October 16, 1940, he registered for the draft and named his brother, James, as his next of kin since he was Louis’ legal guardian until he reached twenty-one.
Louis was inducted into the US Army on August 29, 1941, and received his serial number 36 047 673. It is not known where he did his basic training. It is known he was assigned to Battery H, 501st Coast Artillery Regiment. which was activated on April 1, 1942, in Camp Haan, California, and then moved to San Francisco on October 10, 1942. His unit was sent to the Aleutian Islands where the Japanese had occupied US territory to reinforce American troops who had landed in June 1942 to take the islands of Attu and Kiska back. American troops landed on Attu on May 11, 1943. It was during the fight for Attu that Louis was killed on May 31, 1943.
The War Department sent a telegram to his brother James telling that Louis had been killed in action. On June 1, 1943, Louis was buried in Little Falls Cemetery #1, Attu Island in Plot 9, Row 1, Grave 4. After this things really got confusing. James legally changed his last name to Kirie and was also was inducted into the Army and sent to Santa Anita, California. After losing touch with him, the Office of Quartermaster General reached out to Louis’ sister who wanted nothing to do with her brother’s burial and attempted to find his other brother which it did not have an address for. James contacted the OQMG and, in a letter dated August 18, 1948, reestablished contact with the office. He indicated he wanted Louis to remain where he was buried or if the cemetery was to be closed to be moved to Arlington National Cemetery. Then, he took no action for over a year. Finally, the decision was made to have Louis buried at Mount Emblem Cemetery, Elmhurst, Illinois.
While this was going on, Louis’ casket was placed on the USAT Honda Knot and arrived at Fort Mason in the San Francisco Port of Entry on September 7, 1948. When the casket arrived, there was an order for it to me held there. It appears his remains were not sent to the Quartermaster Corps Distribution Center #8, Chicago until December. The casket arrived in Chicago on December 8th. In a military hearse, with an escort, Louis’ casket was sent to the Walter J. De Vriendt Funeral Home in Chicago on January 13th. S/Sgt. Louis G. Kyriazopulos was buried in Section: L, Lot 450, Grave: 1, in Mount Emblem Cemetery.
