Corporal Boettcher was a member of Company L, 3rd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division. He was taken Prisoner of War while fighting the enemy near Unsan, North Korea on 2 November 1950 and died in Prison Camp No. 5, Pyoktong, North Korea on 30 June 1951. His remains were not recovered. His name is inscribed on the Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial.

Boettcher was awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge, the Prisoner of War Medal, 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.