Herman Bottcher - Legacy

Legacy

There is a memorial plaque at Buna today which is dedicated to Bottcher's role in the battle. Lloyd Joseph Knutson, from Tacoma, Washington, is working on a project to honor Major Herman Bottcher. In 1945, Sgt. John Rossen wrote an eloquent poem that pays tribute to Bottcher and the sacrifice he made in his fight against fascism. This poem went on to inspire the artist Pierre Daura to create a painting that commemorates Bottcher and captures the tone of the poem which was anti-fascist. In this work, found in the Taubman Museum of Art's permanent collection, located in Roanoke, Virginia, a Filipino kneels beside Bottcher's grave, marked with a cross and his helmet and covered with a palm leaf, and looks toward Heaven. He clearly contemplates Bottcher's sacrifice as his eyes are closed. Rossen and Bottcher served together in the Abraham Lincoln Brigade during the Spanish Civil War. Daura also fought in the Spanish Civil War against Franco, but he was not a member of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade. Presumably, it was during the Spanish Civil War that Rossen, Bottcher, and Daura became acquainted with one another.

In an article published in the Saturday Evening Post on August 13, 1949, Lieutenant-General Robert L. Eichelberger (former commander in the Buna campaign) wrote that "On my recommendation, the Allied commander commissioned Bottcher as a captain of infantry for bravery on the field of battle. He was one of the best Americans I have ever known.... His combat experience was extremely useful at Buna, and his patriotism as a new American was vigorous and determined." According to Eichelberger, Bottcher was "Buna's greatest hero."