William Fredericksen, Boatswain's Mate 2/c, born Feb. 21, 1922, Chicago, IL. He joined the USN Aug. 18, 1940, and went from Great Lakes Training Center to San Diego destroyer for EFT to Pearl Harbor. Went aboard Yorktown (CV-5) to the Atlantic for convoy duty to England. When war broke out, went to the Pacific for duty where the Yorktown was sunk in the Battle of Midway.

Assigned to USS West Virginia while she was still on the bottom from Dec. 7,1941. She was raised, taken to Bremerton for repairs, then back out to sea. War over, the BB-48 was sent back to Seattle for mothballing. Discharged as BM2/c on July 23, 1946. He received decorations for North Atlantic Patrol, Asiatic-Pacific, American Defense and the WWII Victory Medal.

Fredericksen has three sons and six grandsons. Employed 40 years as Teamster and is now retired and lives in Columet City, IL.  Hobby is building things with wood.

Reprinted with permission from Turner Publishing