 He graduated from officer candidate school in 1942 and earned a commission in the 121st Infantry Regiment of the 8th Infantry Division.Boesch deployed to Europe with his unit after the D-Day landings to take part in the offensive against Nazi Germany.As commanding officer of Company G, 1st Lt. Boesch led his rifle company in one of the bloodiest and most desperate battles of the war on the Western Front, the Battle of Hürtgen Forest.