Otto Boehler

Across a burning bridge, a small scout party broke the line.

Private Otto A. Boehler took part in the assault near San Isidro on Luzon in the Philippines on 16 May 1899. With twenty-one other scouts he crossed a burning bridge under heavy fire and attacked a fortified position. The Medal of Honor citation credits the party with routing an opposing force of approximately six hundred men.

Born in Germany on 15 October 1873, Boehler entered American service through Wahpeton, North Dakota. He served in Company I, 1st North Dakota Volunteer Infantry, and belonged to the scouting force operating ahead of the main column during the Philippine-American War.

His Medal of Honor was issued on 17 May 1906, almost seven years after the action. He survived the campaign but died on 15 October 1910, his thirty-seventh birthday. He was buried in St. Mary's Catholic Cemetery at Breckenridge, Minnesota.