Russell Stuart Fredendall was born on February 1, 1922, in Wisconsin. He was the son of Florenz K Heiner Fredendall.

Russell enlisted on July 9, 1940. He served in the 507th Fighter Squadron, 404th Fighter Group, as a Fighter Pilot on the P-47D #42-25893 'Joan - The Happy Hopper' during World War II. 1Lt Fredendall was Killed in Action on June 25, 1944, when his plane was shot down by flak and crashed north of the Cinglais Forest near Bretteville-Sur-Laize, France.

1Lt Buford "Steve" Courtney described what had happened: "We were coming back from Le Mans when Freddie asked the Major if he could go down and get a truck he'd spotted in a town south of Caen. He got an okay, and dove down, with me on his wing. Then he lost the truck. 'I'm going to make another circle and come back over the town again.' He was down to 300 feet by this time, with me behind him at 1000 feet, and all these tracers were up at us. The Major called him, 'come back up out of that flak!' but Freddie kept cruising in a gradual turn. I saw hits on his cockpit and followed him down as his ship hit in a field and exploded."

1Lt Fredendall is now buried in the Oak Hill Cemetery, Janesville, Rock County, Wisconsin, USA.

Source of information: www.findagrave.com, www.americanairmuseum.com, francecrashes39-45.net