[Archive] Looking for info on cousin KIA (Guest)

Fri, 05 Apr 2002 07:44:00 GMT

I'm looking for any info available on a cousin who was KIA. This has
been tweaked by the fact that I am the recipient of a box of memorabilia

recounting the early part of his military service.

This is what I have, with most of it coming from a photo album kept by
him:
He was 2nd Lt. Vincent "Fried Egg" J. Fridrich, A.S. No. O-733634 from
Chicago, IL. He was my first cousin; his Mom and my Dad were sister and

brother. A newspaper clipping said he began his flight training at Mesa

Del Rey, King City, CA and completed basic flight training at Chico, CA.

Based upon his Class Ring and two Class Books, he graduated in Class
42-K from the Army Air Forces Advanced Flying School at Stockton Field,
CA on 11-25-42.

The photo album includes many photos of what appears to be basic flight
training, quite a few photos in Hawaii and ends with a couple photos of
B-24s in flight. There are several photos of him and three other
officers which, based upon captions, I believe are the officer portion
of his crew. Only last names were shown. He was the Co-pilot, Schmidt
was the Pilot, Martin was Navigator and Leeman was Bombadier.

There are two other photos of him that I found to be unique. In one, he

is standing in the open cockpit of an A-20 wearing a life vest. I know
it is an A20 since the serial number is quite readable, 40-130. In the
other, he is standing next to a B-24 with what appears to be one
or two bandoliers of 50 cal. over his shoulders. The B-24 had nose art.

It was "Little Dumbo". I searched for this and found almost an
identical photo, but without him, at:
http://www.b24bestweb.com/littledumbo.htm This says it was a B-24D,
41-23841, 7AF, 11BG, 26BS. Whether this was his aircraft or he was just

standing there, I have no idea.

I also have a framed document, signed with I suspect an FDR machine
signature, saying that he was KIA "in the Central Pacific Area, March 6,

1944." I also have a funeral memorial card which says he wasn't buried
until March 9, 1948, near Chicago, which leads me to believe he was
intially interred elsewhere.

I would like to hear from anyone who may know of him or pointers to how
I can do more research. If his body was returned, I'm surmising that
the aircraft may have come under fire, he was killed or mortally
wounded, but the aircraft may have returned. Unfortunately, all
relatives who could give me more info are now deceased and it wasn't
until recently that I was given all this material that my sister had.
Jim Morvay
jmorvay@comcast.net