World War Two veteran shares his stories after Honor Flight

FOSSTON, MINN. (KVRR) – In 1945, Alton “Fritz” Frethem was serving with the Navy in the Pacific at the tail end of the Second World War. And almost 80 years later his service was honored on an Honor Flight trip to the nation’s capital.

“I had a lot of attention, let’s put it that way, that I didn’t deserve, except I was the old guy on the bus.”

Before he joined the Navy, Fritz grew up here in Fosston, Minnesota, during the Great Depression.

“My dad died when I was a year old, and they didn’t have welfare programs like they do now, so we struggled for a few years.”

At 17 Fritz signed up to join the Navy. During his time in the Pacific Fritz served on the USS Telamon, a landing ship that had been converted into a repair ship.

He worked desalinating water to make it drinkable, and it was a job he says he enjoyed.

“I’d go steal some potatoes, and we had a baker who’d give me some lard, so I had french fries during my shift.”

After the war he was stationed briefly in Japan, and while he wasn’t able to explore much, he did get out.

“I was curious and all alone, and a Japanese guy waved to me, he couldn’t speak English. We go on in there and sat down and had tea together.”

“After I thought it was foolish, he could have done away with me and nobody would have known where I was.

After the war, Fritz returned to Fosston, where he worked as a postal clerk for 30 years, and married his wife Helen Mae.

“She passed away about three years ago now… We had a lot of good times together. We’d go fishing, golfing, and bowling. She was a top notch wife.”