Memorial

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Pfc Frederick E. Mc Carthy enlisted in New York City, New York on 7 February 1943.

Freddie McCarthy came over the hill and asked if I wanted to go on an easy patrol with him, Harvey Pendergrass, Mickey Dutton, and one other man. He said this was like a stroll in the park and the mission was to find a decent spot to cross a stream which was east of our position for a large patrol planned for later in the day. Since my shoes were off and the water for the coffee was heating up I told him I would like see him when they returned.

This "walk in the park" turned out to be a disaster.
Perhaps a half hour later we heard a fire fight erupt in the direction that the patrol had taken. They had been fired upon by enemy troops before they reached the stream.
We had medic who went into the open field on our side of the stream to help the wounded. He found Pendergrass had been killed, McCarthy was hit in the neck but was still alive.
While two stretcher bearers went to get McCarthy, the rest of us took up positions on the top of the ridge. As I lay there watching the house, the medics carried McCarthy up the slope, and when they got to my position they set him down for a moment to rest. I had a chance to speak to him but he did not answer. One of the medics put some snow on his lips and he was able to lick it.
McCarthy was from Elmhurst, a part of Queens County in New York City. I did write to his mother and told her that when I saw him on the stretcher he was not in pain. She wrote back and told me that he was an adopted child and that they naturally would miss him.