Rocket Scientist, Third Generation Marine Serves
(July 1, 2011) |
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| CAMP LEATHERNECK, Afghanistan (MCN - 6/27/2011) — Every
Marine has a story. For one Reservist currently serving in
Helmand province the story is of a rocket scientist who
answered the call to serve his country as a third generation
Marine. |
First Lt. William J. Fredericks, an artillery officer currently deployed to Afghanistan with Kilo Battery, 2nd Battalion, 14th Marine Regiment, prepares to head out on a foot patrol in Helmand province. Fredericks is an aerospace engineer at NASA Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va., but joined the Marine Corps reserves to follow in his father and grandfather's footsteps as a third generation Marine.
Courtesy Photo, 5/28/2011 |
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First Lt. William J. Fredericks, an amiable
29-year-old raised in Nantucket, Mass., works as an
aerospace engineer at NASA Langley Research Center in
Hampton, Va. He graduated from Purdue University in 2006
with a degree in aeronautical engineering, and moved to
Williamsburg, Va., after landing the position with NASA.
While he enjoys the challenge of his prestigious career in
what he jokingly refers to as “cubical land,” sitting at a
desk in the Aeronautics Systems Analysis branch was not
quite enough.
“I was out of college a year and I
didn't want to be 40 and say I sat in a cubical in my 20s
and 30s,” explained Fredericks, whose military occupational
specialty is artillery. “I had a privileged upbringing, and
I felt called to serve the country that gave me so many
opportunities.”
That upbringing included a military
flavor. Fredericks' father and grandfather both served as
Marines as well, a legacy now spanning three generations.
“Frankly, I consider my joining the Marine Corps more a
coincidence than starting a legacy,” said the senior William
Fredericks, a retired major who now resides in Mattapoisett, Mass.,
and flies for US Airways. “With my son, Bill, a definite pattern is
evolving. He is the one clearly beginning |
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a legacy.” |
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The senior Fredericks signed his
son's commissioning papers and administered the oath of
office, a moment he considers the greatest honor of his
life. His wife held the Bible for their son as he repeated
the oath, swearing to support and defend his country. The
2008 commissioning was followed by a celebratory dinner in
which the retired major handed down to his son his Mameluke
sword, the ceremonial sword carried exclusively by Marine
officers.
“Recognizing the importance of the moment,
it now represents one of the most valuable family
possessions,” said the senior Fredericks, who served on
active duty for four years as an aviation supply officer and
then spent 10 more years as a drilling reserve officer.
The Marine Corps tradition began with Fredericks'
grandfather, Wesley Fredericks, a World War II veteran who
fought in five island campaigns in the Pacific theater as a
combat engineer with 1st Marine Division. He passed away
while his grandson was still young, and rarely spoke to his
son about the war. The few stories he did share were of
starvation at Guadalcanal, and savage fighting in the
battles for Sugarloaf Hill and Shuri Castle on Okinawa.
“An interesting story – he didn't go to boot camp until
he got back from the battle of Guadalcanal,” the youngest
Fredericks said. “Here he was a veteran getting yelled at by
drill instructors who hadn't been to combat yet.”
Wesley Fredericks was there as the Marines fought their way
up Sugarloaf Hill 13 times before finally holding it. As a
combat engineer, he often had to climb hills where the
Japanese had dug their maze of entrenchments and use rope to
swing dynamite satchels into caves, blasting the enemy from
their positions.
After the war, Wesley Fredericks
left the Marine Corps as a staff sergeant and returned to
his pre-war career as a plumber in New York City.
“He
made quite clear, he did not want his sons to see what he
saw,” the elder Fredericks said as he explained his father's
anger when he received a full Marine option ROTC scholarship
during the Vietnam War. “He wouldn't speak to me for two
days.”
But the war veteran became proud of his son's
decision over time.
More than 60 years later the
family service continues, with the youngest Fredericks
Marine now serving as an artillery officer with Kilo
Battery, 2nd Battalion, 14th Marine Regiment, a
High-Mobility Artillery Rocket System battery operating in
Regional Command Southwest in Afghanistan.
“My dad
thought I should have joined the Air Force,” the younger
Fredericks said, explaining they had research positions
similar to his job at NASA. Yet he chose to pursue a combat
arms specialty in the Marine Corps with “pretty much zero”
similarities to his desk job.
“As a parent, I am very
concerned,” the elder Fredericks reflected. “At the same
time, I am very proud of Bill, and all the other Marines and
service members willing to go into harm's way in service to
our country.”
As a reservist, Fredericks belongs to
Hotel Battery, 3rd Battalion, 14th Marine Regiment, an M777
155mm Howitzer battery based in Richmond, Va. Their sister
battalion, 2/14, needed more lieutenants for their
deployment, and Fredericks answered that call. He arrived in
Afghanistan in mid-January and is scheduled to return home
and pick up where he left off at NASA sometime late this
summer.
Beside their military service, the Fredericks
also share an interest in sailing. Sailboat racing is their
family sport, and the younger Fredericks spent 10 months
between high school and college sailing around the world on
a 188-foot-long ship, visiting almost 40 different ports of
call. Still, their Marine Corps heritage remains their
strongest tie.
“The Marine Corps now provides our
family a bedrock, or foundation, as a common denominator of
what we represent,” his father said. “The ideals of
self-sacrifice, discipline, honor, and the sense of being
part of something much bigger than ourselves certainly leads
to a lifetime of responsibility as contributing members of
society.” |
Article and photo by USMC 1st Lt. Megan Greathouse
II MEF (FWD)
Copyright 2011 | |
Reprinted from
Marine Corps News
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