The memory of a former University of Nevada track star and U.S. Marine killed in South Vietnam more than 56 years ago still resonates with his friends.
For two of his closest friends still living in Reno, the death of 1st Lt. Frederick “Freddie” Williams still stings with Keith Lee and Charles Burr, both military men who served during the late 1960s. Williams, who played football and ran track at Nevada, excelled in both sports although a football injury cut short his playing time on the gridiron.
After graduating from Nevada, Williams joined the Marine Corps at the height of the Vietnam War and shipped off to Officer Candidate School where he was commissioned a second lieutenant. He deployed to Vietnam, and on May 26, 1968, a sniper ended the young Marine’s life on Go Noi Island a short distance from DaNang.
The flag pole and foundation built at the southwest corner of the Mackay Stadium field was dedicated to Williams several generations ago, but on Saturday, a group of friends and supporters of the university will re-dedicate the small memorial in Williams’ honor before the game’s kickoff between the Wolf Pack and visiting Colorado State.
Saturday’s game day and Salute to Service at Mackay Stadium offers recognition to those men and women who are serving or served in the military and for those who paid the ultimate sacrifice. Special ceremonies are expected to begin at 3 p.m., two hours before kickoff. The flagpole named in honor of a fallen Nevada student will be rededicated, and Gold Star flags honoring families who have lost a loved one in service of their country will be paraded on the field at halftime.
“We are working on a number of things to honor vets — rededication of flag pole to Fred Williams, who played at UNR and made the ultimate sacrifice in Nam, installation of a POW/MIA bleacher chair and honoring Gold Star Families,” Lee added. “We have invited some vets from the Nevada State Veterans Home and those from the Veterans Guest House at the VA Hospital.”
A rising Nevada star
Lee, who affectionately refers to Williams as Freddie, said the Wolf Pack athlete established himself as a rising track star from 1963-66 who later donned the Silver and Blue uniform for the football team. Lee and Williams, who were both born in 1943, played together for several seasons before an injury cut short Freddie’s football career, although he still lettered for all four years.
Dennis George, who piloted an Army helicopter in both Vietnam and the Nevada Army National Guard, competed on the track team with Williams. He called his friend one “helluva” of a quarter-miler. Both also trained in the university’s ROTC (Reserve Officer Training Corps) program.
George also reflected on a chance meeting after they graduated from the university.
“Mike Dolan (a mutual friend from Winnemucca) and Freddie went through the Marine OCS program at Quantico, and I was finishing OCS at Fort Belvoir (southeast Washington, D.C.) at the same time.”
George said one day he was in Georgetown, an exclusive area of the nation’s capital, and ran into Dolan and Williams. The unexpected time gave the three Nevada classmates an opportunity to catch up on their lives and military training before returning to their respective units.
At the end of their college days and with Williams heading to be a Marine, Lee’s direction took him into a different direction—the U.S. Army and later to law school at the University of San Francisco. Williams shipped off to South Vietnam in 1967.
“I’m in law school and he’s over there giving his life for his country,” Lee recalled. “To this day, I think about Freddie often.”
The friendship between Burr and Williams grew out of their involvement with the senior class. Burr, the class president, picked a senior committee which included Williams.
“We knew each other pretty well,” Burr said.
Burr graduated from Nevada and attended his officer basic armor course as a tanker, the same type of military schooling completed by his Marine colleague. He was returning from a Vietnam tour when Williams was preparing to leave for Southeast Asia.
“I came back and spent a night in San Francisco,” Burr said.
Burr specifically remembers the date: July 27, 1967.
“A couple of days later I’m in Reno and I go to Harrah’s Club and I bumped into Freddie,” Burr added. “He was leaving for ‘Nam the next day. He was a second lieutenant armor Marine.”
Reality of war
The reality of war rapidly struck when Burr received a letter from Williams several days after he was killed. Another Marine who served with Williams described their year together in South Vietnam near DaNang. They were assigned to C Company, 1st Tank Battalion, 1st Marine Division at Cau Ha Firebase, four kilometers south of Marble Mountain.
“Freddie was engaged in a nine-day battle near the hamlet of Le Nam, Quang Nam Province, South Vietnam,” Lee said. “In total 60 Marines and sailors died in that battle—Freddie was the last Marine to make the ultimate sacrifice in that battle.”
Lee said Williams’ memory is forever enshrined at Mackay Stadium.
A fellow Marine also remembers Williams’ heroism in leading his men.
“Fred had been a tank platoon commander, and then in early May 1968 became company executive officer when I rotated to battalion headquarters,” Wally Erichsen described in a Memorial Day post made earlier this year. “It was several weeks later that Fred was killed by sniper fire while supporting 3rd Battalion, 27th Marines on Go Noi Island as part of Operation Allen Brook.”
Burr recalled his intense tour to Vietnam. As a platoon leader, he took 45 soldiers to Vietnam and brought home 44. The last part of his tour, though, was brutal.
“I was the XO [executive officer] of the platoon,” he said. “During the last 60 days we lost 29 in the platoon … 17 killed in an ambush.”
The thousands of miles separating both men didn’t stop their correspondence with each other. Letters crossed back and forth between Williams and Burr, ending with the final piece of correspondence received on May 28, 1968. Only then did Burr learn Williams had died two days earlier.
Burr, some friends and teammates attended Williams’ funeral ceremony at the Sutter Creek Catholic Church in their classmate’s home town, and then they walked a short distance to the cemetery to say their final goodbyes. One of their former football teammates, Dick Pinion, presented a neatly folded U.S. flag to the family.
After Burr returned to Nevada, he spent his final two years in the military with the Nevada Army National Guard as the Troop Command Battalion commander overseeing units in Yerington, Fallon and Hawthorne. He fondly remembers his first sergeant in Fallon, the late Bill Sanford, who spent more than three decades in service to his country.
Never forget
Lee said John Galloway, director of the USS Nevada Project and a strong supporter of the military with Silver State ties, recently took a trip to California to visit Williams’ gravesite at Sutter Creek, a former gold rush town south of Placerville. In addition to working with Lee and Burr to rededicate the flag pole, Galloway has taken a strong interest in recognizing Gold Star families.
“Fifty-seven family (Gold Star) flags will be marched onto the field at halftime,” Lee said.
Students from the university’s ROTC department and veteran students will assist with carrying the flags. Lee said several Gold Star families and the mother of a fellow Marine killed in Afghanistan 14 years ago will attend the ceremony.
Virginia resident Terri Campbell, who comes from a military family, had a son in the Marines. A sniper killed her 19-year-old son, Lance Cpl. Kielin Dunn, in Afghanistan on Feb. 18, 2010.
Galloway said Campbell will attend the team’s Friday night dinner and speak to the players and coaches. Williams will be honored in the team’s locker room before the CSU game.
Over the years, remembering Williams’ heroics and his legacy to the Wolf Pack family have been a top concern for Burr. Years ago when the Vietnam Traveling Memorial Wall came to northern Nevada, Burr spent some time looking at the names of those killed. He had a photo of Williams, and he left the picture and a note near his friend’s name.
“The family called and wanted to do something,” a surprised Burr said of the quick response.
The response, though, changed Burr’s outlook.
Burr served as a catalyst to honor Williams and his legacy. Freddie’s uncle who owned Sharkey’s Casino in Gardnerville was asked to help, and Williams’ family and Burr contacted former Nevada player, coach and athletic director Chris Ault for his ideas to honor Freddie.
“His family called me and we pursued it with Chris Ault,” Burr said of the fast-moving responses.
As both Lee and Burr would say, the rest is history.
Over a half century has now passed since Williams died in a foreign country 9,000 miles away from home. The Wolf Pack memories, the senior class, the duty to serve their countries—they tightly remain with Burr and Lee.
Lee urges people the next time they walk by the flagpole to read the dedication and say a silent prayer for Williams and all veterans.
“The next time you are in Washington, D.C., stop by the Vietnam Memorial and say hello to Freddie—Panel 65W, Line 2,” Lee urged.
Burr still becomes emotional remembering the tragedy of that war more than 50 years ago.
“No question there are memories. I’ll talk to someone about Freddie, and my eyes will well up,” Burr said, followed by silence. “It makes me think of him.”
