A Memorial

GySgt John Fredette

His name was Gunnery Sergeant John Fredette.  Most Marines I knew thought of him as a mean S.O.B.  Actually, he was a nice guy, thoughtful and considerate to us who found ourselves under his command.  He also happened to be one who took pride in being a United States Marine and expected his charges to reflect the same.  He was a professional and conscientious about the tasks put before him and expected his Marines to be also.  He expected a diligent and thorough effort in each task he assigned.  He thought a Marine should take pride in their appearance with uniforms that were "squared away" and haircuts that were "tight".  He carried himself with Marine Corps bearing that was an example for all his fellow Marines.  GySgt. Fredette is the only person I served with that lost their life during military service to their country.  I wish to honor his sacrifice on this Memorial Day.

It was a tragic and senseless death.  While on deployment to Cubi Point in The Philippines GySgt. Fredette was waylaid by thieves and killed for whatever money was on his person.  It happened just before the start of the Gulf War with Iraq. Our squadron was on alert for redeployment to the war zone.  Muslim fundamentalism was on everyone's mind and it was easy to start blaming radical Filipino Islamic groups for Gunny's death.  It seemed too coincidental to the jarheads in our squadron, VMFA-323, for it not to be related to the conflict between the US and the predominantly Muslim  Iraq.  Initially, we thought Gunny was the first casualty of the war, and our blood ran hot.  But, the evidence told a different story, that indeed Gunny was the victim of petty theft.  As Marines we mourned the loss of one of our own; as men and women we were heartbroken and devastated by the mindless taking of Gunny's life.

A patch made up to remember rear det

I was part of what was called a "rear detachment" or "rear det" in Iwakuni, Japan when I heard the news of GySgt. Fredette's murder.  While our squadron was deployed to The Philippines, rear det stayed behind in Japan to repair some extensive damage caused by an engine fire to one of our planes.  Rear det took the news of Gunny's death hard and we longed for the solidarity of our fellow Marines in The Philippines.  With the prospect of war looming on the horizon and the murder of one of our own, emotions ran high.  Rear det decided to do something to memorialize GySgt Fredette, something only a bunch of air wing Marines could and would think to do.  We took the available supplies we had and painted our nearly refurbished aircraft unlike any of the other combat ready F-18's in our squadron, and probably anywhere.  Instead of the flat gray body and nearly black modexing (what we called the lettering stenciled on the aircraft), we painted the nose and tail a dark gray, feathering in the middle the usual gray and snake bit the vertical stabilizers with our squadron's colors, brown and gold.  (A snake bite was a series of diamonds stenciled to the vertical stabilizers of our jets, making them distinguishable from other squadron's aircraft.  We would use the snake bite also to mark visiting aircraft and base static displays.  Just a little something to remember the Marines of VMFA-323 by.)   One Marine spent the majority of a 24 hour day hand painting a memorial inscription to GySgt Fredette on the nose landing gear door.  The finished plane was striking!  And we of rear det felt we'd done our part to remember our fallen.

Unfortunately, the base commander didn't agree with our sentiment.  It was our hope our memorial bird would join the squadron and fly to show the pride we held for our own.  And we knew when we started the project we'd might be disciplined and made to revert it back to the standard  paint scheme.  Our rear det Aircraft Maintenance Officer (AMO) lobbied hard to have the bird approved and, although he never knew about the memorial until after it was completed (we spent a weekend inside a closed hanger to complete the bird so that no one could order us to stop), he took all the heat.  Word was he wound up losing his commission over it, but he never told us about it or suggested he regretted his eventual role.  He was rear det, after all, and he was as proud of our bird as we were.  And he believed in remembering Gunny.  I find it hard to believe our AMO was so severely punished.  We did see the base commander yelling at him from a distance, our AMO locked into the position of attention while his superior barked in his face, probably with spittle flying from his foaming mouth, and scene Marines are all too familiar with.  But, our AMO did not continue on with his career in the Marine Corps, and after seeing his courage and leadership in relation to the aftermath wrought by our memorial bird, it was the Marines Corps loss.

We were eventually ordered to repaint the F-18, but not before everyone had an opportunity to see it.  Although we eventually reverted it back to the flat gray of a Marine fighter jet, rear det was glad to have the moments shared in our effort to remember one of our own, GySgt Fredette.  There certainly were no regrets in what we did.  And I'm glad to be able to remember him here, one more time.  He didn't lose his life in combat or in a war zone, but he died while serving his country in the United Stated Marine Corps, and although I'm still sad by the loss, I'm also proud of the sacrifice he made.  And I'm thankful that on this Memorial Day, I can offer a small remembrance for one who paid the ultimate price.  That was Gunnery Sergeant John Fredette, USMC.

the GySgt Fredette Memorial F-18