Short answers, pulled from the story.
Killed in action (KIA) is a casualty classification used by militaries to describe the deaths of their personnel at the hands of enemy or hostile forces at the moment of action. It applies to front-line combat troops as well as naval, air, and support forces. Deaths from accidental vehicle crashes, murder, or non-hostile events do not qualify as KIA.
No. The United States Department of Defense states that personnel declared KIA did not need to have fired their weapons. They only need to have been killed due to a hostile attack.
Yes, under most military definitions, deaths caused by friendly fire during combat are classified as KIA. However, deaths from non-hostile incidents such as accidental vehicle crashes or murder are excluded.
Killed in action (KIA) refers to deaths from hostile forces at the moment of action. Died of wounds (DOW) denotes personnel who reached a medical treatment facility before dying. A related category, died of wounds received in action (DWRIA), covers combat casualties that occur after medical evacuation.
PKIA stands for presumed killed in action. It is used when personnel are initially listed as missing in action (MIA) and later presumed not to have survived after not being found. It is common in naval battles or other engagements where recovering remains is difficult.
John Kipling, the son of British poet Rudyard Kipling, was among the vast number of soldiers killed in World War I who went unidentified. The scale of unidentified dead from that conflict prompted the formation of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.