Frederick R. Heck was born on June 20, 1922 in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. His father was Amand Heck (1877 - 1956) who, in 1893 at the age of 16, came to the United States from Germany. In 1906 Amand married Alberta Knauer (1879 – 1952) of Wilkes-Barre. They had nine children (seven sons and two daughters). Frederick was the youngest child. Amand was foreman and car inspector for the Delaware & Hudson (D&H) Railroad in Wilkes-Barre. In the very early 1920s, when Frederick was only two, Amand moved his family to Oneonta, New York where the D&H maintained a large railroad yard. Although born in Pennsylvania, Frederick was raised in New York. While attending Oneonta High School he participated in both the school’s marching band and the formal orchestra, demonstrating an interest in music.  According to friends of the family he was smitten with Jeanette M. Baldwin who graduated from Oneonta High School in 1940.  He was a senior when he left school for the service. 

At the age of 18 he enlisted in the New York National Guard on April 22, 1940 in Oneonta, NY, approximately a year and a half before Japan attacked Pearl Harbor.  He was called to active duty on October 15, 1940 with serial number 20270332.  He was with Company G of the 106th Infantry, Regiment, U.S. Army.

For its service in World War II, the 106th Regiment had 12 companies, all initially recruited from the communities of upstate New York. The entire first battalion companies A, B, C, and D was recruited from Albany. Companies E and H were recruited from Binghamton. Companies F, G, I, and K were recruited from Walton, Oneonta, Mohawk, and Oneida respectively and companies L and M were formed in Utica. Additional Regimental troops were drawn from Catskill, Hudson, and Rome.

The 106th Regiment was inducted into federal service on October 15, 1940 and moved to Fort McCllelan, Alabama on the 23rd, a week later. The Regiment departed for Hawaii on March 10, 1942 and arrived there on March 15, 1942. The Regiment was designated as a floating reserve for the projected Marshall Islands operations and on December 14, 1943 it was attached to the V Amphibious Corp. for training. The Regiment’s 2nd battalion occupied Majuro Atoll on February 1, 1944, expecting to encounter strong resistance, but instead finding that the Japanese had withdrawn their troops, months earlier. The battalion remained there until March 5, 1944 when it was sent back to Hawaii.

The remainder of the Regiment was sent to assault Eniwetok Island, which was the eastern most of the Japanese bases in the Marshall Islands, and within bomber range of the Japanese stronghold at Truk. The assault commenced on February 19th 1944 as the 1st battalion of the 106th, preceded by amphibious tractors, splashed ashore with little opposition. The possession of the little island was hotly contested and the 3rd battalion of the 106th in addition to the 22nd Marine Regiment was sent in to reinforce the 1st battalion. Fighting went on until the 21st of February when the Japanese garrison succumbed and the 106th, including Company G and Fredrick, returned to Hawaii on April 13, 1944 for rest and preparation for the Saipan offensive. The men were now battled tested.

The Regiment landed on Saipan on June 20, 1944, several days after the rest of the Division. The 106th was heavily involved in the fighting for Saipan’s dominant terrain feature; a 1,554-foot mountain called Mount Tapotchau. The 106th initially fought along a ridgeline near the mountain’s base and in an open valley at the base of the ridgeline, two terrain features that were grimly dubbed Purple Heart Ridge and Death Valley. Later in the fight, following the reduction of most of the Japanese defenses and the failure of their Banzai charge, the 106th was instrumental in repelling the second and final Japanese counterattack. The battle for Saipan amounted to 786 officers and 13,438 enlisted men killed, wounded or missing in action.

The 106th Regiment departed Saipan for Espiritu Santo for rest and re-supply. It arrived on September 13, 1944 and after refitting and replenishing its numbers, departed on March 20, 1945 for Okinawa. For the attack on Okinawa, the 106th was attached to the 96th Infantry Division from April 11, to the 16, 1945. While in Okinawa the 106th fought hard for possession of Rotation Ridge and in conjunction with the 105th Infantry Regiment captured a hill called The Pinnacle, a large spire of rock, honey combed with Japanese defenses. 

The 106th participated in the last of the 27th Division’s major fighting when on April 22, 1944 the 1st battalion put down a small Banzai charge from the western sector of the pinnacle. Following the fighting, the 2nd battalion was attached to Island command APO 245 as the Ie Shima garrison on May 3, 1945.

Staff Sgt. Frederick R. Heck was killed in action on May 13, 1945 while fighting on Okinawa according to a War Department telegram received by his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Amand. St. Sgt. Heck met his death in action just two days before his mother had received a Mother's day card from him sent from Okinawa. Initially, he was buried in the Okinawa Island Cemetery.  In March of 1949 his body was reinterred at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (aka Punchbowl Cemetery), Section/Plot M, Row 0, Grave 1201. He was the 33rd member of his local high school killed in action during World War II and his name is memorialized on a plague that still hangs in the school’s main hallway. He was 23 when he died.

If you notice anything erroneous in this profile or have additional information to contribute to it, please contact Jim Greenberg at nez13820@gmail.com. 

Sources:

City of Oneonta, Oneonta Historical Society. Oneonta’s Gold Star Registry, Main St., Oneonta, NY. June 2022.

Find a Grave. SSgt Frederick R Heck

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/55926807/frederick, accessed June 24, 2022.

New York State Archives; Albany, New York. State Population Census Schedules, 1925; Election District: 05; Assembly District: 01; City: Oneonta Ward 05; County: Otsego; Page: 25

https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/20330257:2704, accessed June 24, 2022.

New York State Archives; Albany, New York; Collection. New York, New York National Guard Service Cards, 1917-1954; Series: B2001; Film Number: 36

https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/204218:60808?tid=&pid=&queryId=7afffbfaca80582c70f7d032b0fa40cd&_phsrc=XFg15949&_phstart=successSource, accessed June 25, 2022.

New York State Museum, History of the 106th Infantry Regiment

https://museum.dmna.ny.gov/unit-history/conflict/world-war-2-1939-1945/106th-infantry-regiment, accessed June 27, 2022.

Oneonta High School’s Student Newspaper. The Echo, Oneonta Historical Society, Main St. Oneonta, NY, June 2022.

U.S., School Yearbooks, 1880-2012; School Name: Oneonta Senior High School; Year: 1939

https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/358438479:1265, accessed June 25, 2022.

Wikipedia, 106th Infantry Regiment, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/106th_Infantry_Regiment_(United_States)#:~:text=The%20106th%20Infantry%20Regiment%20is%20an%20infantry%20regiment,independently%20and%20as%20parts%20of%20larger%20divisions.%20Contents, accessed June 27, 2022.

Supporting Documents