Otto Scharth

A Celebration of Life for retired Colonel Otto P. Scharth, 90, of Temple will be held at the Baptist Student Ministry Building of the University of Mary Hardin Baylor at 11:00 a.m. on Friday, October 11, 2013. A reception immediately following the service will be held in the Fellowship Hall of the Baptist Student Ministry Building. Interment will be in Arlington National Cemetery at a later date.

Colonel Scharth passed away on Monday, September 9 in Montgomery, Texas.

Otto P. Scharth was born May 16, 1923, in Mascoutah, Illinois to Otto and Meta Stock Scharth. He graduated from Mascoutah High School in 1941 and enlisted in the United States Army in May 1943. His military schooling included the Engineer School, Infantry Officer Advanced Course, Special Warfare School, Command General Staff College, and Nuclear Weapons Course. He received a Bachelor of Science Degree in Military Science from the University of Omaha now University of Nebraska at Omaha in 1964.

He married Mary Elizabeth Johnston on March 30, 1949 in Glendale, California. They met while he was in the hospital at Fort Knox, Kentucky recovering from pneumonia. She was an Occupational Therapist at the hospital. They were married for 60 years when she passed away on February 19, 2010.

Colonel Scharth served with the 188th Engineer Combat Battalion which was assigned to General Pattons Third United States Army in Europe. At the end of the war in Europe, he was in the last Officer Candidates School class in France and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant of Infantry at Fontainebleau, France. He returned to the United States for redeployment to the Pacific Theater however, the Pacific war ended and he was diverted to Camp Robinson, Arkansas, and later to Fort Knox, Kentucky as an instructor in the Replacement Training Centers. While stationed at Fort Knox, he received his regular army commission and was promoted to First Lieutenant. In April 1947, he was reassigned to the Philippine Combat Command, Philippine Islands, where he served for two years as a company commander of the Philippines Scouts with the 45th Infantry and 57th Infantry Regiments. He returned to the United States in May 1949 where he served as an instructor at the Army Officer Candidate School and later as the Adjutant of Aggressor Forces, Fort Riley, Kansas. After training at Fort Benning, Georgia, he was assigned in May 1953, to the 3d Infantry Division, Korea, where he served as a heavy weapons company commander and later as the battalion operations officer. Upon his return from Korea in 1954, he served as the regular Army officer in charge of the Army Reserve Unit at Dubuque, Iowa until the summer of 1959. He then attended the Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, August 1959 August 1960. In August 1960, he served as the Operations Officer, 1st Battle Group, 20th Infantry at Fort Kobe and later as Plans Officer, G3, Headquarters, United States Army Carribean Command. In March 1964, he was assigned as Battalion Commander, Armor School, Fort Knox, Kentucky for 18 months. From there, he went on to the Army General Staff, Pentagon, Washington, D.C. where he served in the Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Military Operations, Readiness Division, for three and a half years. In his last year at the Pentagon, he was the Chief of the Force Readiness Branch. In April 1969, he was assigned to the 1st Logistics Command, Long Binh, Vietnam, where he served as Special Assistant to the Commanding General for planning and redeployment of United States Forces from Vietnam back to the United States. In May 1970, he was reassigned to the Fifth United States Army, Fort Sheridan, Illinois as the Plans and Operations Officer, Office of the Assistant Chief of Staff, G3. In July 1971, he returned overseas where he served as Post Commander, Camp Zama, Japan. Later he was reassigned as the Assistant Chief of Staff, G1, IX Corps and United States Army Japan. In May 1974, he returned to the United States where he was assigned as the Assistant Chief of Staff, G5, III Corps and Fort Hood, Fort Hood, Texas. Colonel Scharth retired from the United States Army on May 31, 1975 after 32 years of continuous service.

Colonel Scharth participated in the following campaigns: World War II the Moselle to Saar River Operation in France, the Battle of the Bulge in Belgium and Luxembourg, the Assault Crossing of the Rhine River in Germany, the attack across Germany to the Czechoslovakian border the Communist insurgency movement in the Philippines where he was wounded the Korean War and the Vietnam Conflict.

He was awarded the following awards, medals and ribbons: Legion of Merit with 2 Oak Leaf Clusters Bronze Star Medal Combat Infantryman Badge Army Commendation Medal with 1 Oak Leaf Cluster General Staff Identification Badge Good Conduct Medal with Clasp, Bronze, 2 Loops World War II Victory Medal United Nations Service Medal European African Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with 4 Bronze Service Stars Korean Service Medal with 1 Bronze Service Star American Campaign Medal Vietnam Service Medal with 3 Bronze Service Stars Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal Meritorious Unit Citation National Defense Service Medal with 1 Oak Leaf Cluster. In 2011, he was recognized by the Texas Senate and the Texas House of Representatives in honor of his 88th birthday and his service to his Country.

After retirement from the Army, he served as Director of Military Affairs at the University of Mary Hardin Baylor for over 15 years, helping soldiers and their families receive college educations.

Otto P. Scharth was a member of Grace Presbyterian Church, a member of AUSA, a member of the Military Order of World Wars and former Commander of the Ft. Hood Chapter of MOWW, and was the former President of the Kiwanis Club of Belton. He taught youth Sunday school at Beltons First United Methodist Church in the late 1970s to early 1980s. He presented educational programs to area high school classes, Church groups, Civic Clubs, and MOWW on the Battle of the Bulge and the Philippine Scouts. His firsthand experiences have made our Nations military history come to life.

Colonel Scharth has visited all 50 of the United States and has been stationed on active duty in 14 of them. He took up the hobby of snow skiing at the age of 55. His youngest daughter once stated, He looked like a Sherman Tank snow plowing down slope in his green military jacket.

He was preceded in death by his parents, his wife, and one sister, Betty L. Scharth.

He is survived by three daughters, Mary Sue Tilden and husband, Douglas of Charleston, S.C., Elizabeth Ann Ingersoll and husband, John, Jr. of De Pere, WI, and Carole Jane Lamont and husband, Joseph of Montgomery, TX. six grandchildren, and three greatgrandchildren.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations to the Fort Hood Chapter, MOWW for YLC Fund, ATTN: Randolph Teague, 5001 Loch Lomond, Waco, Texas 76710 to the Boys Town National Headquarters, 200 Flanagan Blvd., Boys Town, NE 68010 or to the USO, P.O. Box 96322, Washington, D.C. 200906322. The family wishes to extend special appreciation to the staff of Heart to Heart Hospice for the wonderful care they provided to Colonel Scharth.