Group to Gerald H. Fream, US Navy (USGB Panay)/US Army

Group of seven to Harold H. Fream/Gerald H. Fream, US Navy and US Army: Bronze Star, slot brooch, machine-engraved “Harold/H./Fream”; Purple Heart, slot brooch, unnamed; Navy Good Conduct Medal, wrap brooch, hand-engraved “Harold H./Fream/USGB/Panay/Feb 5, 1937″ (ribbon worn through at the brooch); Army Good Conduct Medal, slot brooch; American Campaign Medal; Europe-Africa-Middle East Campaign Medal; World War II Victory Medal. With an unmarked, pin-back Combat Medic’s Badge; a copy of his Report of Separation; copy of his honorable discharge.

Fream was born in December 1913 in Escondido, California, and joined the Navy in early 1933, apparently using the name “Gerald H. Fream”. Discharged from the Navy in early 1937, his final ship was the river gunboat Panay. He joined the Army in December 1942, training as a medic and serving in the 8th Medical Battalion, 8th Infantry Division. In March 1945, he was wounded by artillery shell fragments and evacuated to the United States for recovery. He was discharged from Bushnell General Hospital, in Utah in April 1946. His Army service documents list him as “Gerald H. Fream”. Why he chose to be Harold Fream in the Navy and Gerald Fream in the Army is lost to history, but his Army Report of Separation notes Navy service of “3 years, 11 months, 20 days”. He probably left Panay around the time his Navy Good Conduct Medal was awarded, so he missed the Japanese attack on the boat on 12 December 1937.