Farres, Agustin V.
Army 2nd lieutenant

Agustin V. Farres.

Date of death: Tuesday, November 16, 1943
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. Second Lieutenant Agustin V. Farres, who joined the U.S. Army from the Philippines, served in the Coast Artillery Corps. On November 16, 1943, 2LT Farres was killed in action in the vicinity of Embugo Bay during the Battle of Buna-Gona. No further details regarding his death are available and searches for his remains following the battle were unsuccessful. He was not identified among the remains disinterred from New Guinea following the war. Today, Second Lieutenant Farres is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery in the Philippines.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency