7th District Veteran says Best Thing About
World War II was the Homecoming

Purnell Frederick at his Abell home recalls his service in the U. S. Army in the South Pacific during WWII.
ST. MARY’S TODAY photo by Ahmar Khan

By Ahmar Khan
ST. MARY’S TODAY

ABELL — G. Purnell Frederick, 83, father of 15, grandfather of 35 and great grandfather of 39, said the one good thing he remembers of World War II is the homecoming.
Before being called to the defense of his country, he was working on the powder line at Indian Head. His job was pressing powder. “It was like big chunks of cheese.”
Born in Clements in 1922, Frederick was 20 when he joined the U.S. army as a transport man and stayed overseas for two years and 10 months.
“I was married when I went to the war,” he said. He said he was discharged on points. “I got 10 points per child,” he said, accumulating 20 points with his son and girl.
“I was sent to Camp Lee, Virginia on January 14, 1943,” he said. From there Frederick went to training camp at Shank, New York for two weeks.
After the training was over, he was shipped to Brisbane, Australia, on what seemed to be a journey forever, leaving his pregnant sweetheart back home. The overseas war took him, like so many other young American GIs, to the other side of the world.
“It was hard,” said Rita, his wife of 64 years who was pregnant with a second child at the time Frederick had to leave. She said with Frederick gone, she went to stay with her mother and father.
“Working calls at night was the worst part of the deal as the conditions were pretty bad,” he said. “We were transporting ammunition, food, everything through the jungles infested with snipers.”
After working in Brisbane for six months, Frederick was sent to Lea, New Guinea, staying there nine months. “Then I went to the Philippine islands,” he said.
He recalled there were some ugly scenes “not for myself.”
The first thing the troops had to do was dig foxholes and then put up tents. Remaining confined to foxholes was tough, he said.
But segregation even during the height of the war was beyond his comprehension. “Sure there was discrimination,” he said. “All the blacks were in one tent and whites were in another.”
World War II was over when Frederick was sent to a defeated Japan, staying in Yokohama for two months before touching the shores of his beloved U.S. at Takoma, Washington.
He was discharged December 20, 1945. Upon returning home, Frederick set about building his family. Between him and Rita, they have 12 children and adopted three more.   He is proud of his almost 100-strong family and said all of them visit him and his wife during Christmas and Easter.
In his civilian life, Frederick took over important civic positions and is a retired member of St. Mary’s County Board of Education. He is now on the board of directors of SMECO. He also serves on the board of St. Mary’s County Center for Life Enrichment and is a member of the American Legion Post 221. In addition, Frederick is a member of the Holy Angels Church and the Knights of St. John’s.