35th Infantry (Cacti) Regiment Association


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  PFC William E. Otto    In memory of our fallen brother

"We few, we happy few, we band of brothers; for he to-day that sheds his blood with me shall be my brother"



Item Company
35th Infantry Regiment
Korean War


"Not For Fame or Reward
Not For Place or For Rank
But In Simple Obedience To
Duty as They Understood It"

National Defense Service Medal Korean Service Medal United Nations Korean Service Medal Republic of Korea War Service Medal



The 35th Infantry Regiment Association salutes our fallen brother, PFC William E. Otto, RA13276615, who died in the service of his country on July 29th, 1950 in South Korea. The cause of death was listed as MIA to KIA. At the time of his death William was 20 years of age. He was from Swanton, Maryland. William's Military Occupation Specialty was 4745-Light Weapons Infantryman.

The decorations earned by PFC William E. Otto include: the Combat Infantryman Badge, the Purple Heart, the National Defense Service Medal, the Korean Service Medal, the United Nations Korea Service Medal, and the Republic of Korea War Service Medal.


Private First Class Otto was a member of the 35th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division. He was Killed in Action while fighting the enemy in South Korea on July 29, 1950. Private First Class Otto was awarded the Purple Heart, the Combat Infantryman's Badge, the Korean Service Medal, the United Nations Service Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Korean Presidential Unit Citation and the Republic of Korea War Service Medal.

(08/02/1951 Swanton, MD Newspaper)

The body of Pfc William E Otto will arrive today and will to his home near Swanton for reburial. Funeral services will be held Saturday at 2 p.m. in North Glade Methodist church with Rev. Randall Prince, pastor of Mt. Lake Park Methodist church, officiating. Internment will be in North Glade cemetery. Military rites will be accorded at the gravesite by the American Legion post, Oakland.

Pfc Otto was born January 20, 1930, a son of William L Otto and the late Lana Ellen Otto. He entered the service in June 1948 and was shipped to Japan the following September to join the 25th Division. He was serving with Company I, 35th Infantry and was killed five days after arriving in Korea. Besides his father he is survived by six sisters and three brothers.