Name:
Chester J Mann
Rank:
Technical Sergeant
Serial Number:
Unit:
555th Bomb Squadron, 386th Bomb Group
Date of Death:
2015-09-19
State:
New Jersey
Cemetery:
Fairmount Cemetery (Phillipsburg, New Jersey)
Plot:
Row:
Grave:
Decoration:
Air Medal with one bronze and one silver star, Purple Heart, Good Conduct M
Comments:
As the sole survivor of the B-26 Marauder crash that killed his five crew-mates, Chester Mann spent the remainder of World War II as a prisoner of war. He was imprisoned at Stalag Luft IV in Gross Tychow (now modern-day Poland). Fearing the advancing Russian army, German officials decided to evacuate the camp and force the POW's into a "Black March" to an area just east of Hamburg where they were liberation. The decision to evacuate the camp led to an outbreak of chaos and untold suffering amongst the prisoners. Mann passed away peacefully at the age of 96 in 2015.