Preserving The Oral HistorIES of Combat Veterans

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Fred Bahlau

WWII | 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division

In the middle of a frigid wooded battlefield, Fred Bahlau left his foxhole to go check on others. He only got a short distance when a shell came in and wounded the Captain. He got a medic and set out again when another shell hit the same place. Now he had two wounded men. (Caution: strong language. May be inappropriate for some viewers.) (This interview made possible with the support of FRANK LEYENDEKKER.) (3:46)
They were looking forward to a great time in Paris on leave. As they searched for the most disreputable part of town, Fred Bahlau remembers how the streets were suddenly full of blaring speakers ordering all Airborne troops to return to the train station. Bastogne? No one had heard of it. (Caution: strong language. May be inappropriate for some viewers.) (This interview made possible with the support of FRANK LEYENDEKKER.) (4:12)
After the guys in headquarters surprised him with a little schnapps, Fred Bahlau went on a detail into Foy, where he found a jeep with two wounded men in the middle of a German 88 barrage. The medics had fled and it was up to him to get them out. (Caution: strong language. May be inappropriate to some viewers.) (This interview made possible with the support of FRANK LEYENDEKKER.) (4:55)
At Bastogne, Fred Bahlau was startled when a shell landed right next to him and didn't explode. Maybe that was true, what they said about Nazi slave labor. After the battle, the Colonel called him in and demanded an immediate answer to a life changing choice he must make. (Caution: strong language. May be inappropriate for some viewers.) (This interview made possible with the support of FRANK LEYENDEKKER.) (4:45)
Paratrooper Fred Bahlau was quartered in a castle belonging to Hermann Goring and then he was ordered to guard the loot at Hitler's Berchtesgaden retreat. What he wishes he had a picture of, though, is a particular bathroom fixture used by Der Fuhrer. (Caution: strong language. May be inappropriate for some viewers.) (This interview made possible with the support of FRANK LEYENDEKKER.) (4:57)
Fred Bahlau wanted to stay in the Army after the war, but then he found out that the men from the 101st would go to the 82nd Airborne, to the back of the line for assignments. Nope, but there was one more task he had to perform before he went home. (Caution: strong language. May be inappropriate for some viewers.) (This interview made possible with the support of FRANK LEYENDEKKER.) (3:52)
The two paratroopers were all spiffed up and out on the town in England. It was late and his vision was a little hazy, but Fred Bahlau was sure he saw the woman of his dreams. (Caution: strong language. May be inappropriate for some viewers.) (This interview made possible with the support of FRANK LEYENDEKKER.) (2:47)
Fred Behrens

Vietnam | Multiple Units

He was an aviation nut when he was a a kid, so when it came time to choose a branch, it was the Army for Fred Behrens. They offered the quickest route to the sky. He could be trained as a helicopter pilot rather quickly and that's what he did. In his mind, he still had a romantic and heroic notion of what war was like thanks to Hollywood. (5:26)
The plane had to circle Tan Son Nhut airport because of incoming rocket fire. That's how Fred Behrens was welcomed to Vietnam. He was assigned to the Kingsmen, an assault helicopter company with the 101st Airborne. He received his baptism of fire at the battle of Fire Base Ripcord, where he took a piece of shrapnel and ignored it. (6:25)
After the intense and costly battle at Fire Base Ripcord, Huey pilot Fred Behrens was thinking he may not survive the tour. He was transferred to a different unit where he flew a smaller helicopter, the Loach, which he liked. The unit was dysfunctional, however, and he managed to make another move to Eagle Dust Off, a medical evacuation unit. (7:00)