Kramer, Edward J.
Army Private 1st class

Edward J. Kramer from Wayne County Harbor Springs, Michigan .

Service era: World War II

Date of death: Sunday, December 27, 1942
Death details: n 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 Edward J. Kramer entered the U.S. Army from Michigan and served in Company H of the 126th Infantry Regiment, 32nd Infantry Division. He was reported as killed in action on December 27, 1942, in the vicinity of Buna, but no further details regarding his death are available. Searches for PFC Kramer following the battle were unsuccessful, and he was not identified among the remains recovered from New Guinea following the war. Today, Private First Class Kramer is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery in the Philippines.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, Grand Rapids Press (1945)