Freet, Fred Evert
Marines Reserves Private

Fred Evert Freet, age 18, from Marion, Indiana, Grant county.

Parents: Lucy B. Covey

Service era: World War II

Date of death: Saturday, November 20, 1943
Death details: On August 6, 2018, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) identified the remains of Private Fred Evert Freet, missing from World War II. Private Freet, who joined the U.S. Marine Corps from Indiana, was a member of Company F, 2nd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division. He was killed in action on Betio Island on November 20, 1943, during the Battle of Tarawa. Private Freet’s remains were buried in one of the temporary cemeteries on Betio, but they were not recovered in post-war investigations on the island. In 2015, the non-profit organization History Flight recovered remains from a site associated with one of the temporary cemeteries on Betio. The remains were turned over to DPAA, and Private Freet was identified from among them.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency