Pfc. Henry K. Ostermann was born in Delmenhorster, Germany, on May 31, 1916, to William Ostermann and Frederika Ahrens-Ostermann. His mother may have died in the 1920s. It appears he was 13 years old when he arrived in the United States with his younger brother and sister at Ellis Island on the ship Berlin. The family resided at 604 South 6th Avenue, Maywood. Illinois. He attended Proviso Township High School but school after completing his first year and went to work as a garbage man.
He registered with Selective Service when the draft act took effect on October 16, 1940, and named his father as his contact person. He was drafted into the army on March 25, 1941, and issued the serial number 36 743 158. It is not known where he did his basic training. It appears since he spoke German, he was selected to serve as a guard at the Camp Ellis POW Camp, Fulton County, Illinois. All that is known is the he died when the jeep he was in was involved in an accident on June 27, 1944. The other three soldiers in the jeep were injured. Pfc. Henry K. Ostermann was buried in Forest Home Cemetery. Forest Park, Illinois.
