Chief Warrant Officer Essmeier was a member of Headquarters Company, 9th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division. He was listed as Missing in Action while fighting the enemy in North Korea on 1 December 1950. He was presumed dead on 31 December 1953. His name is inscribed on the Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial.

For his leadership and valor, Chief Warrant Officer Essmeier was awarded the Bronze Star with Oak Leaf Cluster, the Purple Heart, the Combat Infantryman 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.