Lt Sidney Fredrickson
LIEUTENANT SIDNEY FREDRICKSON
MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP
Sidney I. Fredrickson was born October 12, 1917, in
Roseburg, Oregon. He enlisted on December 14,
1941, in Portland, Oregon, following the bombing
of Pearl Harbor, and was sworn in at Ft. Lewis, Washington.
He went through boot camp at Camp Roberts, California,
entered OCS at Ft. Benning, Georgia, on June 2, 1942, and
was commissioned August 28,1942.
Lieutenant Frederickson shipped out to England in September
1942 with the lst Bn 116 Regt 29th lnfantry Division.
He served in the European Theater of Operations. In June
1944 he was wounded at Normandy and captured by the
Germans at St. Lo, France. He was held at Stalag IID and at
Schubin, Poland, 0-FLAG 64.
When the Russians got closer to 0-FLAG 64, the prisoners
were marched west in the dead of winter through Stettin
toward the sea coast. It was forty degrees below zero. They
were then marched north toward the German sub pens at
Peenemunde, then south and east to Lukenwaide, about 150
km from Berlin. They were there until the Russians came from
the north and the Americans from the south. Lieutenant
Fredrickson was taken by ambulance to Magdeburg, then
flown to Camp Lucky Strike. He was discharged from the
Army February 2, 1946, at Hoff General Hospital in Santa
Barbara, California.
He served as commander of the American Legion Post
11 in Corvallis for two years and was active with the honor
guard. Post 11 was established in 1919 as the eleventh post
in Oregon and has provided many youth activities in the community,
including Boys State and American Legion Baseball.
It was work he truly enjoyed. He also enjoyed fishing and
hunting and had his private pilot license.
He passed away May 30,1997, and is buried at the
Willamette National Cemetery in Portland, Oregon. The
scholarship in his memory is funded through the donations
of his family and the American Legion and its members.