TEMPLE — Robert Porter Friberg will be one of 45 veterans on an Honor Flight Maine trip to Washington, D.C. April 26 – 28.

Friberg said he joined the service in August of 1944. He was 17 when he joined.

“We all expected to be called. Rather than be drafted most of the football team enlisted. I joined the United States Navy,” he said.

Friberg was first sent to U.S. Naval Training Station Samson in New York. He later attended signal school at the Great Lakes base in Illinois. Flags were used aboard ships to communicate with other ships or those on shore.

Friberg didn’t see action overseas during World War II; instead, he was sent to the Inuit waterway near Juno, Alaska.

“I was a member of the merchant seamen appointed by the Navy to guard the ships. I had to go across open seas. I didn’t like that as I got seasick,” he said.

Friberg said as a signalman he was put aboard merchant ships. He quickly demonstrated how he once wrote “I love you” home to his mom using the flags. He also used lights for signalling on board ship.

“I didn’t have to do the flags much. I was only in the service for 13 months total.

“I didn’t get to see any actual action. I was glad not to go over to the islands when we were conquering those,” he said.

Friberg said they once received a warning that there was a Japanese midget submarine in his area.

“It never found us. We had to stand on 24-hour watch,” he said.

Friberg never saw the enemy but his brother, a ski trooper with the Army’s 10th Mountain Division, did.

“He was two years older. He went in first. I had to wait,” he said.

Friberg got out of the service when the war ended. He was given $200 when he was discharged and hitchhiked from Bakersfield, California to Dallas, Texas where his aunt and uncle lived. He took a train to St. Louis and another one to Boston on his trip home.

Friberg had hoped to follow his dad and play baseball for the major leagues after high school. Bernie Friberg played 15 years in the majors, spending time with the Chicago Cubs and the Philadelphia Phillies before finishing his career with the Boston Red Sox.

“My father played in 19 games for the Red Sox. He was on Ripley’s Believe It or Not for having played every position in the majors. They called on him to do most anything,” Friberg said.

After the Navy, Friberg went to Bowdoin College. That was a challenging time for him as he played football and baseball while attending college. He also married Mary Louse Roberts in June of 1949.

Friberg spent two years at Bowdoin, then three years at Springfield College in Springfield, Massachusetts. He later obtained a M.S. from the University of Maine.

Friberg taught physical education for two years in Hawaii, one at Worcester Academy in Massachusetts, 10 years in Wilton and 15 years in Farmington. He retired in 1980.

“My wife wanted a big family. I told her I did too so we got married. She is one big selfless person. She had five girls Laurie, Andrea, Sharon, Judy and Marly who are wonderful and two boys Robert Jr. and Bernie (named for his grandfather) that are very successful in their work. I’m very proud of them.

“I used to play with my kids every day after school and on weekends. They’re good memories,” he said.

Daughter Laurie said, “I don’t know how he found time to breathe. He held several jobs to make ends meet.”

Friberg said he’s a neat freak. He kept his home in good repair and always had flowers around his home. He doesn’t have a favorite but preferred annuals for their long blooming.

Laurie said he loved red colored flowers.

Due to an injury last year he is no longer able to garden.

Friberg said he was very good with his hands and has two model ships he built on display in ‘his’ room. One is of the Mayflower (his wife’s

family came over on it) and the other is representative of slave ships. Pictures and mementos from his dad’s baseball career, the antlers from a deer he shot, his children’s high school graduation pictures and other family pictures are also displayed.

“I have had a wonderful life. I have no complaints,” he said.

Friberg said he and his wife honeymooned in Washington, D. C. They were there a week and he is looking forward to seeing what has changed since then.

“I’m very excited about this trip,” he said.

The veterans and their companions will have a busy day April 27 as they tour the World War II and Korean monuments. Other monuments and points of interest in Washington, D.C. will also be visited.

The group will return to Portland mid-day Sunday.

pharnden@sunmediagroup.net

Copy the Story Link