Private First Class Bartholf was a member of the 2nd Machine Gun Section, Company A, 1st Battalion, 1st Marines, 1st Marine Division. He was seriously wounded while fighting the enemy in Korea and died of those wounds on 4 December 1952.

Bartholf was awarded the Purple Heart, the Combat Action Ribbon, the Korean Service Medal, the United Nations Service Medal, the National Defense Service Medal and the Korean War Service Medal.