Omweg, Chester D.
Army Private 1st class

Chester D. Omweg, age 35, from Berrien County Benton Harbor, Michigan .

Parents: Allen Omweg

Service era: World War II

Date of death: Friday, November 20, 1942
Death details: In November 1942, the U.S. Army’s 32nd Infantry Division regained control of Buna, Papua New Guinea, with its goal of neutralizing an enemy threat to Port Moresby and, ultimately, to the Australian mainland itself. The rugged terrain that the soldiers faced was fiercely defended by Japanese troops and included tidal swamplands with a labyrinth of camouflaged trenches and bunkers. In December 1942, when the 32nd Infantry Division was reinforced with Australian soldiers, Buna finally fell to the Allies; however, malaria and other tropical diseases contributed to a high number of casualties and deaths for the 32nd Infantry Division. Private First Class Chester D. Omweg, who entered the U.S. Army from Michigan, was a member of Anti-Tank Company, 126th Infantry Regiment, 32nd Infantry Division. He died of malaria and pneumonia on November 20, 1942, at Mount Obree (also known as Ghost Mountain), in the Owen Mountain Stanley Range on the south coast of New Guinea. The circumstances surrounding the burial of his remains at the time of his loss are unknown, and he is still unaccounted-for. Today, Private First Class Omweg is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery in the Philippines.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, Herald Press (1942)