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

German-American German Americans (, ) are Americans who have full or partial German ancestry. According to the United States Census Bureau's figures from 2022, German Americans make up roughly 41 million people in the US, which is approximately 12% of the pop ...

soldier who served in the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...

during the

Indian Wars The American Indian Wars, also known as the American Frontier Wars, and the Indian Wars, was a conflict initially fought by European colonial empires, the United States, and briefly the Confederate States of America and Republic of Texas agains ...

and

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. In 1899, he received the

Medal of Honor The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest Awards and decorations of the United States Armed Forces, military decoration and is awarded to recognize American United States Army, soldiers, United States Navy, sailors, Un ...

for his actions during the Battle of Sugar Point. 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

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in 1895 and joined the US Army at

Fort Snelling Fort Snelling is a former military fortification and National Historic Landmark in the U.S. state of Minnesota on the bluffs overlooking the confluence of the Minnesota and Mississippi Rivers. The military site was initially named Fort Saint An ...

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 recorded ...

in the Hospital Corps and was present as an acting hospital steward at the Battle of Sugar Point 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 Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

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 lie ...

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

References

External links

* * *http://oscarburkard.org/ {{DEFAULTSORT:Burkard, Oscar 1877 births 1950 deaths United States Army personnel of World War I United States Army Medal of Honor recipients Emigrants from the German Empire 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