Milo Plunkett was born on February 3, 1913 in Wickes, Arkansas, the son of Emmett and Mary Jane Plunkett. Census data from 1940 shows that Plunkett attended elementary school and was a farm laborer who lived with his parents on Plunkettville Road in McCurtain County, Mountain Township in Oklahoma. His mother was reported as residing in Torrance at the time of his death.

Milo “Bill” Plunkett enlisted in the U.S. Army on March 19, 1942 and was sent to Fort Sill (Oklahoma) for induction. In 1943, Private First Class Plunkett was assigned to Company G, 358th Infantry, 90th Division, and sent to Camp Barkeley in Texas, a large Army training installation during World War II.

Not much is known at this time about the details of his service, but the 358th Infantry took part in several major campaigns in 1944-45, including Normandy, Northern France, Ardennes-Alsace and Central Europe. In January 1944, Plunkett was hospitalized with pneumonia with a second diagnosis of otitis externa (an outer ear infection) and was discharged the same month. On July 3, 1944, PFC Milo Plunkett was injured and killed in action in the European Theater of Operations, with the causative agent listed as artillery shell, other or unspecified to blast, fragments, and debris. 

Available information indicates that Private Plunkett was originally buried in the Blosville / Carquebut (France) a temporary cemetery that was placed there after D-Day which contained the graves of 6000 American soldiers from 1944-1948 who died fighting for the liberation of France. After 1948 all bodies were reburied at the Normandy American Cemetery in Colleville-sur-Mer, France or were transferred back to the United States. Milo Plunkett’s remains were transferred back to the U.S. aboard the Army transport ship SS Carroll Victory. He is buried at the Pleasant Grove Cemetery in Cove, Polk County, Arkansas.  

Private Plunkett’s medals include the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal and the World War II Victory Medal.