He was in the army during WWII along with my mom, his sister Sophie, and his two brothers, my other uncles. He was injured several times during the war (see newspaper clipping to the left), receiving the Purple Heart and other medals.
He saw the most action on the battlefield of all his siblings. (see Army discharge link below)
Freddie was "shell shocked" from the war, but not right away. He was able to return to his job at Sun Shipping. But one day (possibly in the early 50s according to Uncle Frank) when the whistle blew at work, he thought it was an air raid and he dove for cover. From that day on he regressed to the behavior of the young boy he was before the war. He would always talk about his childhood like it was yesterday.
He died of an "upper GI (gastro-intestinal) bleed". He had an ulcer and was on a bland diet. But, he wandered around the nursing home picking-off other peoples trays and must have been eating some spicy foods. When they found him, he was unconscious by his bed with blood coming from his mouth.
We will miss him greatly. He drove his brothers nuts with his antics. But, I always found him entertaining.
(see below--a newspaper clipping from the February 24, 1946 edition of the Philadelphia Record)
