Frederice Theodore Flodberg was born about 1923 to Mr. and Mrs. Fred Flodberg. Information regarding Fred's early life is unavailable. During his years at Watsonville High School, he appears to have been popular. He was in the band, a rally yell leader, a member of the Junior Red Cross, in the French club and was the business manager of the Manzanita yearbook. Fred graduated from Watsonville High School in 1941.

In late 1943 or early 1944, Flodberg joined the Army Air Corps Cadet program and was in the advanced stages of the course when he crashed a P38 fighter plane near Santa Rosa, California, on September 22, 1944. Flodberg survived the crash and went on to earn his wings and a commission as a second lieutenant.

After receiving additional training, Flodberg joined the 402nd Fighter Squadron of the 370th Fighter Group. That unit had recently transferred from their Andover-Hamp- shire base in England to France and was in the process of switching from P-38 to P-51 fighter planes when Flodberg joined them.

“In December 1944 through January 1945, Ninth Air Force fighters and bombers were critical in defeating the Wehrmacht during the Battle of the Bulge. There was a noteworthy incident in which American, British, and Canadian air power was grounded by very bad winter weather, but then the bad weather broke, freeing those tactical air forces to help break the back of the Wehrmacht attack.”

On February 21, 1945, while flying a support mission, Second Lieutenant Frederice T. Flodberg was killed in action. His body was recovered and buried in the Netherlands American Cemetery in Margraten, Netherlands.

(ABMC, WHS 1941 Yearbook; AAIR; WIKI, 9th Air Force)