SP/4 Ralph “Smokey” Fredenberg – Vietnam War

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SP/4 Ralph “Smokey” Fredenberg

Smokey grew up in Shawano and had many friends. He attended Lincoln elementary school and graduated from Shawano High School in 1966. While in high school, Smokey was a member of the Projector Club, Junior Red Cross, participated in intramural sports and was a life guard at the Shawano Recreation Center. He started the first Shawano Youth Congress and became president of the Wisconsin chapter while still in high school.

Smokey’s long-term plan was to go to college and possibly become an attorney. The G.I. Bill would help him to achieve that goal so on June 13, 1966, along with two buddies, he enlisted in the US Army for four years with duty in Germany.

He completed basic training at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, and then completed the “helicopter repairman” course at Fort Eustis, Virginia. Then, instead of being sent to Germany as he had enlisted for, he was assigned to Fort Carson, Colorado where the 195th assault helicopter company (AHC) was being formed. He was at Fort Carson from January 1967 until October 1967 when his unit left for Vietnam via boat.

The 195th AHC arrived in Vietnam on October 26, 1967. The unit had 31 helicopters and was located at Long Binh just outside of Saigon. The unit’s mission was to support special forces operations and flew its first mission on November 30, 1967.

The Tet offensive began on January 31, 1968. It was the deadliest day for America as 245 Americans died that day. The 195th AHC shuttled American troops into Saigon to defend key buildings including the US Embassy.

On March 3, 1968, several helicopter repairmen, including Smokey, were reassigned to Company A, 101st Aviation Battalion, 101st Airborne Division at Camp Engle which was 7 miles southeast of Hue in the northern part of the country. Camp Engle was located on the east end of the A Shau Valley. The A Shau Valley ran 450 miles from Laos to Hue and was a major infiltration route for the North Vietnamese.

To impede the enemy’s movement, a series of fire support bases such at T-bone, Birmingham, Bastogne, and Veghel were established on the east end of the A Shau Valley. From March to May 1968, the 101st Aviation Battalion was tasked with resupplying the fire support bases with whatever they needed.

That’s what Smokey was doing on April 24, 1968 when his helicopter was shot down by a rocket propelled grenade and exploded in a ball of fire. They had just unloaded supplies at fire support base Veghel and were on their 12-mile flight back to base camp Eagle. They were 1.2 miles from fire support base Veghel when they went down. Those who witnessed the shoot down, realized that nobody could have survived the fire ball they had seen and the crash site was in enemy territory with ongoing heavy fighting.

Attempts to reach the crash site were unsuccessful until four months later in August 1968. All crew members died instantly and all were inside the helicopter.

The four crew members killed were:

E-4 Ralph Fredenberg, door gunner, age 20, WI, 6 months in country.
E-5 Buford Johnson, crew chief, age 19, FL, 7 months in country.
W01 Stuart Werner, pilot, age 22, CA, 23 days in country.
Wo1 Brian Philibert, co-pilot, age 24, TX, 5 months in country.

There was also a passenger who had volunteered to go along. He had been in country for two years and was going home within a week. E-5 Dale Lambert, supply specialist, age 22, WA.

The loss of the helicopter and crew hit the unit hard as it was their first loss in the five months the unit had been in Vietnam. Wo1 Brian Philibert had been one of the original pilots who had deployed with the unit from Fort Campbell, KY and was well liked.
After this incident, unit helicopters always flew in pairs for better protection and to report the location if one was shot down.

Smokey’s family was notified that he was missing in action as of April 24, 1968. Then in September 1968 the family was notified that Smokey’s remains had been recovered.

On October 3, 1968, Smokey’s remains arrived in Green Bay on a flight from San Francisco. US Army SP/5 Robert D. Klotz was the escort.

Funeral services for SP/4 Ralph “Smokey” Fredenberg were conducted on Saturday, October 5, 1968 at 9:30am at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Shawano with internment in Woodlawn Cemetery. Military rites were conducted at the cemetery by an honor guard from Fort Sheridan, Illinois. Born Funeral Home was in charge of the arrangements. The marble grave marker came from the Columbus Marble Works in Columbus, MS.

Smokey was 20 years old and had been in Vietnam six months and had been in the army for 22 months. His awards are:

Army Aviation Badge
Bronze Star
Purple Heart
3 Air Medals
Good Conduct Medal
National Defense Service Medal
Vietnam Service Medal
Republic of Vietnam Military Merit Medal
Republic of Vietnam Military Campaign Medal
Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross with Palm
Marksman Badge with Automatic Rifle Bar

Recently, in Menomonee County, the bridge crossing the Wolf River between Keshena and Neopit was named the “Ralph Fredenberg Memorial Bridge.”