Ostrowski, Chester
Army Private

Chester Ostrowski from Minnesota, Mille Lacs county.

Service era: Korea

Date of death: Unknown
Death details: On July 11, 1950, the U.S. Army’s 21st Infantry Regiment, which had arrived in Korea six days earlier, was placed in defensive positions near the town of Chochiwon, South Korea. The regiment was not at full strength and lacked artillery and anti-tank weapons. That day, they were attacked by North Korean forces and were forced to withdraw to avoid being surrounded, as well as to buy time until they could be reinforced and resupplied. Private First Class Chester Ostrowski joined the U.S. Army from Minnesota and was a member of M Company, 3rd Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division. He was captured by enemy forces during the fighting near Chochiwon. He joined a group of prisoners who were marched to the “Apex Camps” in northern North Korea near the Yalu River. Private First Class Ostrowski died of malnutrition and pneumonia at one of the Apex Camps. He was not identified among remains returned to U.S. custody after the ceasefire, and is still unaccounted-for. Today, Private First Class Ostrowski is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency