The largest Housing Area south of Bürgermeister-Ackermann-Straße was named for Major General Kenneth Frank Cramer. It consisted of 720 dwelling units in 45 multiplex buildings (building numbers 534 - 579). The construction cost per building was then about 650,000 Deutsche Mark. As a civilian he was a wealthy coal merchant, as a soldier he was valiant, highly moral and martial-oriented. Per his own statement, this was also due to the demands of the Korean War. Cremer enlisted in the U.S. Army for World War I and served in France. He was wounded, taken prisoner, and recovered in a German hospital.
After World War I he was a member of the Army Reserve and later of the Connecticut Army National Guard. He was Chief/National Guard Bureau from 1947 to 1950. Cramer was involved in the legislative process of Connecticut during four terms of office.
During World War II, Cramer was promoted to Brigadier General as Assistant Division Commander of the 24th Infantry Division (Pacific theatre of operations). In 1945 he became Commander of the Division and was promoted to Major General. After WW II, Cramer was Commander of the 43rd Infantry Division (Camp Pickett National Guard)(Korean War). In 1951 he came to Augsburg as such. During his service in Augsburg, the construction of the U.S. Housing Areas started. He supported the mutual understanding between the population of Augsburg and the U.S. Army. Even in 1952, he opened the kaserne gates for the public. In November 1952 he became Commander/ Southern Area Command in Munich.
Cramer was born in Gloversville, New York on October 3, 1894. He graduated from Princeton University in 1960, and received his master’s degree in 1917. Cramer died - at the age of 59 - of a heart attack during a hunting excursion near Heidelberg on February 20, 1954. He was buried in Arlington National Cemetery, Virginia.
(Photo: M.R. Patterson, added by Bill McKern, ww2gravestone,deviantart.com, Blackhedgehog13).