WWII veteran Warren Fredericks 91, dies January 16, 2011, He witnessed the raising of the flag atop

Oak Ridge native, WWII veteran Warren Fredericks dies - NorthJersey.com

Oak Ridge native, WWII veteran Warren Fredericks dies
Sunday, January 16, 2011
BY STEVE JANOSKI
Suburban Trends
STAFF WRITER
The "Greatest Generation" lost another of its heroes on Jan. 10 when Warren W. Fredericks, a former Marine who witnessed the raising of the United States flag atop Mount Suribachi on Iwo Jima, died at the age of 91.
Warren Fredericks, a 1937 Butler High School graduate, helped lead an AP photographer up Mount Suribachi on Iwo Jima.


Fredericks was a long-time Sparta resident, and had resided at the Bristol Glen Retirement Community in Newton as of late.
Born in Oak Ridge and graduating from Butler High School in 1937, Fredericks signed up for the U.S. Marines and traveled the world while on the U.S.S. Brooklyn. He participated in the first expedition force to Iceland before being sent to Iwo Jima in February of 1945.
An article was written about Fredericks' experiences in WWII in the NJ Herald in 2007 that chronicled his memories of trying to survive during the Battle of Iwo Jima, which is widely known as one of the most brutal of WWII.
It also spoke about his role in the photographing of one of the most poignant moments ever captured on film — the now-legendary raising of the flag on top of Mount Suribachi.
Lt. Colonel Chandler W. Johnson was the officer who ordered a small flag to be raised on top of the mountain, which overlooked the invasion beaches, during the battle. The first flag that was raised, however, was found to be too small for all of the American troops on the beaches to see.
In the article, Fredericks said that he was one of Lt. Col. Chandler W. Johnson's most trusted men, and was told to bring the smaller flag back to the colonel and escort Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal to the top of the mountain.
Fredericks then witnessed one of the great moments in history as he stood next to Rosenthal, who snapped the now famous picture of a handful of Marines raising the flag.
The article states that a picture taken with Fredericks' private camera shows him in the corner of the frames during the flag's securing.
It also said that Fredericks visited both Hiroshima and Nagasaki after the atomic bombs were dropped and witnessed first-hand the devastation they caused.
Discharged in 1945, he lived in Michigan before returning to Sussex County where he and his wife Marion settled. They had two children, Thomas and Debra, both of whom survive him. Marion passed away in 2001.
He joined the Sparta Police Department in 1950, and then served as tax collector and treasurer for Sparta Township from 1952-57, before being nominated in 1959 by President Eisenhower and confirmed by the U.S. Senate as postmaster in the U.S. Post Office in Sparta. There he served until his retirement in 1980.
His obituary states that he also continued his employment for over 37 years as a court officer for the Superior Court of Sussex County with the Sussex County Sheriff's Department.
He held memberships in the Sparta Rotary Club and the Lions' Club, and was a lifelong member of VFW Post 7248 as well as the Sussex County Marine Corps League.
He was also a longtime member of the Franklin Rifle and Revolver Association that now holds an annual competition in his honor.