Private First Class Gengler was a member of Company E, 2nd Battalion, 38th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division. He was Killed in Action while fighting the enemy in North Korea on 27 August 1951.

Gengler was awarded 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.