Frederick Blair Warren

PFC Frederick B. “Freddie” Warren served with Item Company, Third Battalion, 25th Marines.
He was reported missing in action at Iwo Jima on 19 February 1945.
Branch
Marine Corps Reserve
Service Number 945845
Current Status
Remains Not Recovered
Pursuit Category
This case is under Active Pursuit by DPAA
Note: Not to be confused with Frederick Briggs Warren (453820) of King Company, Third Battalion, 25th Marines.
Capsule History
Pre-War Life
Birth
January 29, 1926
in Burkburnett, TX
Parents
Sam Nathaniel Warren, Jr.
Margaret Clouston (White) Warren
Education
Marshall High School (1942)
North Texas State Teachers College
Occupation & Employer
College student
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Service Life
Entered Service
February 29, 1944
at Dallas, TX
Home Of Record
611 West Rusk Street
Marshall, TX
Next Of Kin
Parents, Sam & Margaret Warren
Military Specialty
Mortarman (MOS 607)
Individual Decorations
Purple Heart (Iwo Jima)
Loss And Burial
Circumstances Of Loss
In the invasion of Iwo Jima, the Fourth Marine Division was charged with landing on and securing the Yellow and Blue Beaches – the right of the Marine line, anchoring on the Quarry. Lieutenant Colonel Justice Chambers and the Third Battalion, 25th Marines would be first ashore on Beach Blue 2 and would immediately pivot to the right, attacking strong Japanese fortifications in the Quarry and the Boat Basin. Tough going was anticipated, but nothing could have prepared BLT 3-25 for what awaited them on the beach.
Item Company landed first, planted itself on the rightmost flank of the regimental line, and began inching towards the Boat Basin. They were under heavy fire from 0902 hours until 2330; at the end of the day, they could muster only 2 officers and 130 enlisted men. In the struggle to reach the Quarry, the BLT 3-25 lost 22 officers and approximately 500 men killed, wounded, or missing – all in a single day’s fight.
One of those lost in the first day’s fighting was PFC Frederick B. Warren, an Item Company mortarman who had turned nineteen on the way to Iwo. A Marine Corps casualty card notes that he was wounded in the “stomach region” and evacuated – however, he never arrived at a hospital. In July 1945, Item Company survivors were asked to provide further information. PFC Frank L. Weldon, Jr., one of Warren’s squadmates, described a scene clearly burned into his memory:
“Warren was hit on D-Day at approximately 0915. He was lying face down and when I rolled him over I noticed a very small wound behind his ear. This wound was not bleeding but giving off a watery fluid. Although he was unconscious, his eyes were open and fluttering. Seeing that I could not help him, I took the mortar he was carrying and proceeded inland.”
Because Warren was still clinging to life when last seen, the investigation considered him “missing” rather than killed in action. Nothing further was learned about his death or burial, and Warren was officially declared dead on 20 February 1946.
Burial Information or Disposition
None; identifiable remains not recovered.
Memorials
Honolulu Memorial, Courts Of The Missing
Algoma Cemetery South, Marshall, Texas
Freddie’s oldest brother, Naval Aviator Sam Warren III, was killed in a training accident in 1942.
Another brother, Stephen G. Warren, retired as a Marine Corps brigadier general.
Next Of Kin Address
Address of parents, Sam & Margaret Warren
Location Of Loss
Warren’s battalion landed on the Blue Beaches at Iwo Jima.