Albert Marquardt

At the Fort Lawton military cemetery there is a lonely grave next to an old shack, it reads Albert Marquardt, Captain, German POW, Oct 1, 1945.  Who was Albert Marquardt?  Well for starters he was a senior private, 1st class, not a Captain more on that later.  Albert was the father of two from Klein Stittkeim, a small hamlet of 92 inhabits in East Prussia.  He was captured in March of 1945 by the American forces near Kaiserlautern.  He was then sent to the states and eventually to Fort Lawton.  It was there in late September Albert drank cocktails of orange juice and wood alcohol, a long with several other POWs.  Albert feel ill, but didn't stop drinking the cocktails and after having two more on October 1st he succumbed and died.  There is much speculation to whether it was lack of education or a death wish to led to Albert's death.
Regardless Albert was accorded a full military funeral and committed to the ground on October 8, 1945.  For some 30 years Albert's grave read, Albert Marquardt German October 1, 1945.  How and when Albert's grave was upgraded to the current grave is unknown, nor is it known who promoted Albert to a Captain.