PFC Robert O. Boettcher
Today we honor and remember PFC Robert O. Boettcher of the 101st Airborne Division, who was killed in The Battle of the Bulge
On January 14, 1945, at 0800, an estimated company size of German soldiers attacked the 327th sector, which was lying east of Foy and a little to the north of the Bois de la Paix. This attack was repulsed by the Americans, but the small arms and medium-range fire from German tanks had taken its toll! At the end of the day, the 327th had lost 53 men, including eight killed in action.
On that day, PFC Robert O. Boettcher of HQ Co, 1st Bn, 327th GIR was among the men killed in action.
Another Screaming Eagle had soared to the ultimate height. 🦅
Born in Appleton, Outagamie County, Wisconsin, on May 7, 1922, PFC Boettcher died at the age of 22. His mother had passed away on July 22, 1937, and as he had no siblings, his father Otto Boettcher was the only survivor of the family. Tragically, his father, who was a WWI veteran, died later that year, on August 21, 1945.
PFC Robert Boettcher was first buried in the Temporary American Military Cemetery Grand Failly, France, at Section G, Row 10, Grave 238. He now rests eternally in the American War Cemetery Luxembourg, at Plot E, Row 9, Grave 14. Boettcher was posthumously awarded a Purple Heart Medal.
Lest we forget! 🇺🇸
Source: Rendezvous with Destiny by Rapport and Norwood (p. 654)