-
Period: to
1930-2011
-
Childhood
Fred Holden was born on December 20th 1935. He had two older brothers, John and Alfred and an older sister Nina. He grew up in a fairly wealthy family and grew up as a happy child living in a small town in Canada. -
Life in Canada
By age 6 Fred attended a small school providing a great education. One year later his father came down with a severe illness which could not be treated and sadly he passed away in 1942. Fred felt it was his duty to help out the family even though he was the youngest. -
Moving to America
Fred moved to America in 1942 with his family. He was 11 years old when he moved. At this time, World War II was going on... Fred's favorite activity to do during this time of war was to watch movies with war related themes as well as listen to music. The most popular song during this time was "White Christmas" by Bing Crosby, which first appeared in the movie "Holiday Inn". -
Fred's decision to fight in the war.
Fred decided he wanted to serve for his country. He was only 13 years old when he made the decision to join the US army. He did not go through that much training because there were so many boys who were asked to serve in the army. He was excited to learn how to fly planes and jump out of planes. He finally was going to live his dream. -
The start of the Korean War
The war was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea. Fred was only 14 years old entering this war. He did not feel prepared to fight because he was so young and had not had much experience with a gun or being a paratrooper. -
The first jump
Fred remembers the first time he parachuted from the aircraft. He was secretly terrified. He described his first jump as being the most exhilarating thing he has ever done. He felt like he could see the entire world from his view. -
Fred's first traumatic experience.
Fred was waslking around a trench one day with two of his other friends who were soldiers. They heard gun shots in the distance, so they crouched below the trench and looked into the distance to see who was shooting. As they were looking into the distance, a large, unexpected explosion went off right near Fred's trench. Luckily, the bomb did not injure Fred, but it had killed two other soliders. The sight of the two met blown up was the worst sight Fred had ever seen. -
-
Leaving Korea
One year into the war passed and Fred had parachuted from planes, shot many enemies and seen people get blown up. He was only 16 years old and the sights he saw were too much for him to handle alone. He could no longer do his job in the war because he was so petrified by the horrible things he saw. His commander of the troop forced Fred to leave Korea to go back home because he was not doing his job to the best of his ability. Finally, Fred made it home safely. -
The end of the war
By the end of the war in 1953, Air Rescue had evacuated over eight thousand critical casualties and rescued nearly a thousand men from behind the enemy lines. Fred remembers hearing on the radio about the end of the war. He had never been more happy to hear that it was finally over. -
Starting a family
In 1958 Fred moved to Revere in Massachusetts and married Barbra Festa. He decided to become a police officer in the town because he still wanted to serve for his country. He finally got over most of his fears from fighting in the war and focused on being a police officer. -
Alcohol
Fred continued to be a police officer, but he had to take out of his schedule to spend time with the family. But, in 1970, Fred became addicted to alcohol and spent his time at the bar. He finally cleaned up 4 years later in 1974 when his son, Rick, was born. Fred believed that his addicted was caused by the stress he had when he fought in the war. He thought that by drinking, the horrible images of the people being blown up in the war would go away. -
Gambling
By 1985, Fred had been living a wonderful life with two children, Cheryl and Rick, and a wife, Barbra. Fred became addicted to gambling by the age 50. He spent all of his time at casino's and eventually gambled so much that he lost all of his money. He never saw his children and he and his wife constantly fought. -
Retiring
Fred retired from working as a police officer in Revere. He stoped gambling and spent more time with his family and friends. -
Open Heart Surgery
On June 16th Fred went in for open heart surgery. He was then diagnosed with diabetes just a week later. -
Where he is today
Today, Fred Holden is living in Revere in a two story home with his wife, Barbara. He has a daughter, Cheryl, a son Rick, and two grandchildren Adrienne and Lauren. Fred has learned throughout his experience fighing in the war to live each day as if it were his last day. He has encountered some terrible peoeple throughout his life and has learned that drinking and gambling are not useful tools to help a person cope with their problems, but family will help a person through anything issue.
