(Photo taken Memorial Day 2010. Flag added by Sp5 Alphonse G Basil in
his honor. Photo by: Al Basil)Grave
marker for Chester J. Obarzanek in the Resurrection Cemetery, Clinton
Township (Macomb County), Michigan |
Chester enlisted in the US Army on April 18, 1941 in
Detroit, Michigan.
In April 1944 he was sent to participate in the fighting in Italy.
Following that stint Chester volunteered for parachutist duty. After
completion of the requisite five training jumps, probably in Cottesmore,
England, he was assigned to Company I, 508th Parachute Infantry
Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division.
As a qualified parachutist he participated in the invasion of France on
D-Day (6 June 1944), Operation Market-Garden (17 September 1944) and the
Battle of the Bulge (18 Dec 1944) where he was wounded on 1 Feb 1945.
His awards included the Combat Infantryman Badge (CIB), Parachutist
Badge, Distinguished Unit Award, Purple Heart, European-African-Middle
Eastern (EAME) Campaign Medal with five Bronze Campaign Stars and a
Bronze Service Arrowhead device.
The campaign stars were for his role in the Rome-Arno, Southern France,
Rhineland, Ardennes and Central Europe campaigns. |
