Walk Among Heroes is honored to welcome Paul Frederick as our guest for Episode 28. A lifelong resident of Kentucky, Mr. Frederick’s served in the United States Marine Corps, 3rd Division, during World War II. Mr. Frederick experienced combat as a bazooka man and machine gunner on several islands in the Pacific before finally invading Iwo Jima in February 1945. During 30+ days on Iwo Jima, Mr. Frederick lost many friends and witnessed tremendous carnage, in one of the most difficult battles our military has ever experienced. Prior to Iwo Jima, Mr. Frederick’s ship was struck by torpedo, which killed dozens, causing the ship to sink. Mr. Frederick was injured, but he refused to leave his unit.
Earlier this year, Nashville songwriter Jim Collins (writer of many hits like ‘Big Green Tractor’ and ‘Are You Gonna Kiss Me or Not’) reached out to Mr. Frederick and asked to write a song about his life and military service. Collins wrote a song for Mr. Frederick, titled ‘Guardian Angels’, which provides a touching account of Mr. Frederick’s life, including his 71-year marriage to the love of his life, Myrtle.
The song can be found at:
This episode consists of two parts. Episode 28A focuses on Mr. Frederick’s early life, bootcamp, and Marine Corps service. Episode 28B opens with the invasion of Iwo Jima, then takes us through the rest of his life, including lessons learned.
As always, ‘thank you’ to Shreyas for donating your time as sound engineer for this podcast.
Walk Among Heroes is honored to welcome Paul Frederick as our guest for Episode 28. A lifelong resident of Kentucky, Mr. Frederick’s served in the United States Marine Corps, 3rd Division, during World War II. Mr. Frederick experienced combat as a bazooka man and machine gunner on several islands in the Pacific before finally invading Iwo Jima in February 1945. During 30+ days on Iwo Jima, Mr. Frederick lost many friends and witnessed tremendous carnage, in one of the most difficult battles our military has ever experienced. Prior to Iwo Jima, Mr. Frederick’s ship was struck by torpedo, which killed dozens, causing the ship to sink. Mr. Frederick was injured, but he refused to leave his unit.
Earlier this year, Nashville songwriter Jim Collins (writer of many hits like ‘Big Green Tractor’ and ‘Are You Gonna Kiss Me or Not’) reached out to Mr. Frederick and asked to write a song about his life and military service. Collins wrote a song for Mr. Frederick, titled ‘Guardian Angels’, which provides a touching account of Mr. Frederick’s life, including his 71-year marriage to the love of his life, Myrtle.
The song can be found at:
This episode consists of two parts. Episode 28A focuses on Mr. Frederick’s early life, bootcamp, and Marine Corps service. Episode 28B opens with the invasion of Iwo Jima, then takes us through the rest of his life, including lessons learned.
As always, ‘thank you’ to Shreyas for donating your time as sound engineer for this podcast.