Frederick Freeman was born in Saint Louis County in Kirkwood [Annotator's Note: Kirkwood, Missouri] in May 1925. His father worked in the real estate business and did a number of different things just to get by during the Depression [Annotator's Note: the Great Depression was a global economic depression that lasted from 1929 through 1939 in the United States]. Freeman had a brother and a sister, and he was the middle child. He was in his school's auditorium when he heard about Pearl Harbor [Annotator's Note: the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on 7 December 1941]. It was scary. He realized it might mean he would have to get involved. His older brother also served in the infantry. Freeman volunteered and was able to get into the Army Specialized Training [Annotator's Note: Army Specialized Training Program; generally referred to just by the initials ASTP; a program designed to educate massive numbers of soldiers in technical fields such as engineering and foreign languages and to commission those individuals at a fairly rapid pace in order to fill the need for skilled junior officers], meaning he got to go to college. He attended Northeastern University [Annotator's Note: in Boston, Massachusetts] and took engineering courses. He had previously been enrolled in Washington U [Annotator's Note: Washington University in Saint Louis, Missouri]. Freeman joined the Army in July 1943. He went into the ASTP after completing basic training in Georgia. It taught him how to work with other people. In April 1944, Freeman left the ASTP because he was assigned to an Army unit, in his case Company E, 2nd Battalion, 101st Infantry, 26th Division [Annotator's Note: 101st Infantry Regiment, 26th Infantry Division]. They then trained together as a unit in Fort Jackson, South Carolina.

Frederick Freeman was a rifleman [Annotator's Note: in Company E, 2nd Battalion, 101st Infantry Regiment, 26th Infantry Division] and carried an M1 [Annotator's Note: .30 caliber M1 semi-automatic rifle, also known as the M1 Garand]. He had never handled a weapon before going into the military. His unit was deployed in August 1944. They were some of the first troops to go directly into France rather than arriving in England and crossing the English Channel. They arrived in Cherbourg [Annotator's Note: Cherbourg, France]. All of his leaders were good. Freeman dug foxholes and tried to keep track of where other members of his unit were. Most of his combat memories are of trying not to be hit or captured. The most dangerous thing they faced was the German machine guns. His unit worked in conjunction with tank units.

Frederick Freeman [Annotator's Note: serving in Company E, 2nd Battalion, 101st Infantry Regiment, 26th Infantry Division] went into Metz [Annotator's Note: Metz, France] where he was finally able to take a shower, as cold as it was. They were sent to Belgium to reinforce the area [Annotator's Note: during the Battle of the Bulge or German Ardennes Counter Offensive, 16 December 1944 to 25 January 1945]. Freemen was wounded in the knee around this time, and was hospitalized. Despite his physical wound, his injury was classified as battle fatigue. They had good food brought to them for Christmas. Usually they ate C rations [Annotator's Note: prepared and canned wet combat food]. Once he recovered, he was sent to a replacement depot, the 17th [Annotator's Note: 17th Replacement Depot in Angervilliers, France], where he worked handling paperwork for troops that came in. He remained there for the rest of the war. They were happy that the war in Europe was over, but they all figured they would be sent to the war in the Pacific. Freemen was not looking forward to that. He never feared that he would not make it home. He did not end up being sent to the Pacific. Once the war ended, he remained busy with all the paperwork at the replacement depot, which as located in Nuremberg [Annotator's Note: Nuremberg, Germany].

Frederick Freeman did not return home until January [Annotator's Note: of 1946]. His brother had arrived back home a few weeks before him. His parents kept up the Christmas tree for them. It was something great to be reunited with his family. Freemen was quickly discharged from the Army. He volunteered for the reserves to keep his rank of staff sergeant. He used the G.I. Bill [Annotator's Note: the G.I. Bill, or Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, was enacted by the United States Congress to aid United States veterans of World War 2 in transitioning back to civilian life and included financial aid for education, mortgages, business starts and unemployment] to go to Washington University [Annotator's Note: in Saint Louis, Missouri] where he got a degree in business administration. He did not have difficulty readjusting to civilian life. He did not have nightmares at the time, but later in life has experienced some post traumatic stress [Annotator's Note: post traumatic stress disorder; a mental health condition triggered by a terrifying event either experienced or witnessed]. Freeman was called back to active duty for the Korean War [Annotator's Note: Korean War, 25 June 1950 to 27 July 1953] and was put into the Medical Corps. He handled admissions and did other clerical work, keeping his rank of staff sergeant until he was commissioned as a second lieutenant. His most memorable experience of World War 2 was digging foxholes. He kept in touch with some friends he made while in the service. The 26th Division [Annotator's Note: 26th Infantry Division] set up their own reunion in Saint Louis [Annotator's Note: Saint Louis, Missouri]. Freeman felt it was his duty to fight in the war. He is proud of his service. Freeman found out that his brother, who was serving in the 83rd Infantry Division, was very near to his unit while they were both serving in Europe. The Red Cross was able to get them together. Freeman wrote to his family back home while serving overseas. It is important for there to be museums and for the history of World War 2 to be taught. It was an important part of history that people should understand. Freeman's father served in both World War 1 [Annotator's Note: World War 1, global war originating in Europe; 28 July 1914 to 11 November 1918] and World War 2, in the Quartermaster Corps.