Friedt, Eugene L.

EUGENE LEROY FRIEDT

ENSIGN 

U.S. NAVY

Eugene Leroy Friedt born on March 2, 1919, to Rosa and Jack Friedt in Pleasant Mills, Indiana. Eugene was the second oldest of six children. His five siblings (in order) were, Woodrow (Russell), Marion, Kenneth, Anola, and Jackie. Growing up Eugene enjoyed rabbit hunting in his free time.

Eugene went to Decatur High school for a full four years, graduating in 1937. Sport coaches, teachers, and friends called him "Pop". His senior year, the staff of the high school quoted in the year book, "'Pop' was a quiet reserved boy in school, who would, in our opinion, make an ideal Canadian lumberman. To this he replied, 'Yeah it would be O.K. if there were rabbits up there.'" Eugene was very active in his school. Within his four years, he took part in, the freshman chorus, Latin club, and the howling hosts. His junior year, Eugene was president of his class and vice-president as and an officer of his senior class. He also played many sports in those four years, those sports include baseball, basketball, track, and his favorite of course, football. In the words of his football coaches in the high school yearbook, "'Pop' was our hard hitting quarterback and was usually relied upon when yards were needed.

He was a good trainer and played the game well."

Eugene attended Ball State College in Muncie, Indiana, to play football and become a teacher and coach. There, he met Dorothy (Dottie) Arnold, and went to Junior Prom at Ball State with her. He received his degree from Ball State in 1941.

Eugene enlisted in the Naval Reserves while attending college, because he, like his younger brothers, Marion and Kenneth, wanted to serve their country anyway they could. Eugene taught a full year at Danville before being called into active duty. He started his preflight training at Iowa College, in Iowa City, Iowa, in February 1942. Then followed his training at Lambert Field, St. Louis, and at Pensacola. He trained as an Aviation Cadet  (Fighter Pilot) for the Navy. He visited his parents as much as he could on active duty. On March 29, 1944, he married Miss Dorothy Leah Arnold, of Indianapolis, the ceremony was preformed in Norfolk, Virginia.

After training, Friedt received the rank of Ensign (Junior Commissioned Officer rank), because of his college education. Ensign Friedt was then stationed on the USS Tulagi, to carry out Operation Dragoon. Operation Dragoon was a mission that called for the invasion of southern France and to then meet up with the invasion force of Operation Overlord, that was sent to Normandy on D-Day (June 6,1944). Due to Italy's unexpectedly slow process, Operation Dragoon was delayed till August 1944. The allies targeted three beaches, Delta, Alpha, and Camel on the East Coast of Toulan, France. Naval air craft was to bomb the beaches first, before the landings of troops. Next was to meet troops from Operation Overload (invasion of Normandy on D-day), from the north, in the middle of France, and together head east to Germany. Operation Dragoon was a-go on August 15, 1944, unfortunately Ensign Friedt was killed in a training accident at sea while preparing for the operation.

Ensign Eugene Leroy Friedt died on July 14, 1944, at the age of 25. The exact location of his death is unknown. His remains were never recovered; however, a memorial in the North African American Cemetery on the tablet of the missing, in Carthage, Tunisia, honors his sacrifice.

Eugene left behind two brothers that continued to serve, Kenneth and Marion. Marion lived to marry and have 5 children. He passed away December of 2000 at the age of 76. Kenneth was injured in the war and retired out of the navy in March of 1946. He lived on to marry and have 5 boys. Kenneth passed in December of 2009, at the age of 86. Eugene's wife, Miss Dorothy (Dottie) Friedt, a physical education and an art teacher for many years, remarried after the death of Eugene, and had three sons and one daughter. Dorothy (Dottie) Bray died in January of 2013, she lived to the age of 90.

For his service and sacrifice, Ensign Friedt was awarded the American Defense Medal, American Campaign Medal, the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, and the WWII Victory Medal. 

Information researched and collected by Leah Butler (2015), and Isabelle Friedt (2016).

SOURCES

Ravelings Yearbook Staff, ed. Ravelings Yearbook. Decatur, IN: Decatur High School, 1933-1937. Print.

Employees of the Decatur Daily Democrat, comp. Veterans of the Bi-State Area. Marceline: 

D-Books Publishing Inc., 2010. Print.

Family of Eugene Friedt; Alice Friedt

"Eugene Friedt." ancestry.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Nov. 2016.

 Navsource Online: Escort Carrier Photo Archive. Navsource Naval History, 24 June 2016, Navsource.org. Accessed 30 Nov. 2016.

World War II: Operation Dragoon. About Education, 2016, Militaryhistory.about.com. Accessed 30 Nov. 2016.

Our Military Heritage. Allen County Public Library, 30 Nov. 2016, Genealogycenter.info. Accessed 23 Nov. 2016.

Remembering Those Who Served. The USGen Web Project, 2011, Adamsingenweb.com. Accessed 30 Oct. 2016.

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