WWII · Battle Death Record
Herman Bottcher
Captain, U.S. Army · California
Personnel File — Core Information
- Name
- Herman Bottcher
- Entered the Service From
- California
- Rank
- Captain
- Service
- U.S. Army
- Unit / Regiment
- 126th Infantry Regiment, 32nd Infantry Division
- War
- WWII
- Date of Death
- December 31, 1944
- Awards
- Distinguished Service Cross with Oak Leaf Cluster, Silver Star, Legion of Merit, Purple Heart with three Oak Leaf Clusters
- Burial / Memorial
- Manila American Cemetery and Memorial, Taguig, Metro Manila, Philippines
- Grave
- Plot L, Row 4, Grave 134
Their story
Captain Herman J. Bottcher, a German-born immigrant who had served in the Spanish Civil War before entering the U.S. Army, earned two Distinguished Service Crosses with the 126th Infantry Regiment, 32nd Infantry Division; during the Battle of Buna in New Guinea (December 1942) he led a small unit that cut the Japanese line between Buna and Buna Mission and held the position against repeated counterattacks. He was killed in action on December 31, 1944, during the Leyte campaign in the Philippines, and is permanently buried at Manila American Cemetery.
Compiled from American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) and National Archives (NARA) records and public sources.
This record is one of more than 200,000 in our historical archive. Some information may have been corrupted or lost over decades of data conversion. Corrections are welcome — please contact the archive.