Oscar Rudolph Burkard (December 21, 1877 – February 18, 1950) was a

German-American German Americans (german: Deutschamerikaner, ) are Americans who have full or partial German ancestry. With an estimated size of approximately 43 million in 2019, German Americans are the largest of the self-reported ancestry groups by the Unite ...

soldier who served in the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

during the

Indian Wars The American Indian Wars, also known as the American Frontier Wars, and the Indian Wars, were fought by European governments and colonists in North America, and later by the United States and Canadian governments and American and Canadian settle ...

and

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. In 1899, he received the

Medal of Honor The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest military decoration and is awarded to recognize American soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, guardians and coast guardsmen who have distinguished themselves by acts of valo ...

for his actions during the

Battle of Sugar Point The Battle of Sugar Point, or the Battle of Leech Lake, was fought on October 5, 1898 between the 3rd U.S. Infantry and members of the Pillager Band of Chippewa Indians in a failed attempt to apprehend Pillager Ojibwe Bugonaygeshig ("Old Bug" or ...

. Aside from being the only non-combatant to be decorated from that engagement, Burkard was also the last man to receive the medal during the

Biography

Born in Achern, Germany, he immigrated to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

in 1895 and joined the US Army at Fort Snelling in April 1898. Assigned to the 3rd U.S. Infantry, he served as a

private Private or privates may refer to: Music * " In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorde ...

in the Hospital Corps and was present as an acting hospital steward at the

on October 5, 1898. During the battle, he rescued several soldiers while under heavy fire from the Pillagers and continued to do so throughout the day. He was later awarded the Medal of Honor ''"for distinguished bravery in action against hostile Indians"'' and officially received the award on August 21, 1899. Seeing service during

, he retired at the rank of major on October 31, 1930, and died in

Rome, New York Rome is a city in Oneida County, New York, United States, located in the central part of the state. The population was 32,127 at the 2020 census. Rome is one of two principal cities in the Utica–Rome Metropolitan Statistical Area, which li ...

on February 18, 1950. He is buried in Rome Cemetery.

References

External links

* * *http://oscarburkard.org/ {{DEFAULTSORT:Burkard, Oscar 1877 births 1950 deaths American military personnel of the Indian Wars United States Army personnel of World War I United States Army Medal of Honor recipients German emigrants to the United States Military personnel from Minnesota People from Rome, New York German-born Medal of Honor recipients American Indian Wars recipients of the Medal of Honor People from Achern

Biography

See also

References

External links