Bill Freeman spent the last couple years researching the lives of 59 Fontana men who died or were prisoners of war while wearing their country’s military uniforms.
Knowing their memories have begun to fade away, Freeman offers a plea: “They already died once for us. Please don’t let them die again.”
Toward reviving their legacies, he has completed an impressive 318-page book, giving a biography of each of the 59 Fontanans who were killed in combat, were prisoners of war or who died from non-combat causes such as to air and auto crashes, illness and explosions during World War II, Korea, Vietnam or the War on Terror.
This endeavor grew from a 2018 visit by Freeman, a former Fontana councilman, to the local Veterans of Foreign Wars post where he saw memorials to 29 local men killed in the nation’s wars. Taking those names, he expanded that list “because we need to memorialize these guys.”
What has also resulted has been the Fontana Honor Roll Traveling Exhibit, with photos and biographies of each of the military men, which has been shown at schools and other sites. Also underway is planning for a permanent city memorial.
In his book, Freeman admits he used a rather liberal interpretation of those from Fontana. In addition to those who were raised there, he included numerous men who spent time or worked in the city or had family who lived there. Many of those who grew up in Fontana and served in World War II or Korea attended Chaffey High in Ontario, the closest high school until Fontana High opened in 1952.
His book noted that the first Fontana resident to die in World War II combat was Navy Fireman Benjamin Broiles, who was lost in March 1942 when the gunship, the USS Asheville, was sunk by Japanese destroyers off the coast of Java. His memory remains alive as the VFW in Fontana was named in his honor.
The most recent to perish from Fontana was Marine Lance Corporal Joshua Ray Whittle, who was killed by a landmine in Afghanistan’s Helmand Province in June 2009.
Each of the men in the book is remembered with information about their background and the circumstances of their death.
Four Fontana men lost their lives during World War II’s bloody battle on Okinawa in 1945. Army Pfc. Joe E. Bermudez, Army Pvt. Robert O. Bushey and Marine Cpl. Dean Wallace died in the fighting while Army Pfc. Paul G. Garcia was killed in October, after the war’s end, from a landmine blast while on patrol there.
Petty Officer Eugene K. Horn of Fontana was killed in October 1944 when the aircraft carrier USS St. Lo was sunk by a kamikaze attack near the Philippines.
Death is tragic enough but it came at an ironic time for Army Cpl. Albert E. Harder. He died only 23 days before the end of fighting in Europe in 1945.
In the Korean War, Fontana’s Air Force Lt. Billy B. Dobbs nearly became an ace by downing four enemy MiG fighters and damaging one other. He would return home from war duty only to be killed in July 1952 while serving as a gunnery trainer at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada. He died when his T-33 jet trainer crashed.
Freeman found the list of the Vietnam casualties all too familiar, having attended Fontana High with a number of them.
He detailed the poignant stories of two Fontana High graduates of 1967 who grew up as close friends, joined the Army’s 101st Airborne and were badly wounded in Vietnam, almost at the same time. Cpl. Richard Burns died from his wounds in February 1968, while injuries to his close friend Spec.4 James Peters Jr. confined him to a wheelchair until his passing in 1978. The book includes personal accounts of friends and family describing the lives of the two young men.
The book also tells the story of 22-year-old Pfc. Joseph Marek of Fontana, whose 1967 death came in Vietnam’s Gia Dinh province only two weeks after arriving in the war zone.
The final casualties from Fontana were in Iraq and Afghanistan.
One name touched me – that of Army Sgt. Brian Brewster, killed in May 2006 in the crash of a Chinook helicopter in Afghanistan. He was the son of the late Louis Brewster, a colleague and popular sports writer and sports editor of local newspapers.
Included among those who Freeman chronicled were the men who endured and survived capture as prisoners of war: Navy Lt. Com. Jesse Chambliss, Army Pvt. Albert Marin, Army Sgt. George Momcilovich, and Army Sgt. John Petric (all in World War II) and Army Sgt. Steve Featherson (Vietnam).
The book also includes a story about Freeman’s cousin, Army Sgt. Yale H. Freeman of Connecticut, who was killed in Italy in June 1944. Bill Freeman knew very little about his relative, but has done much research, detailing his death during the Anzio invasion just south of Rome.
Freeman said in gaining details about each man he has had some exceptional experiences talking to family members. Meeting with the 88-year-old sister of Joe E. Bermudez, Freeman learned that the family never received his medals following his death. He ordered replacements for her and her tearful thank you to him, “really tugged at my heart,” he said.
But Freeman will tell you the work is far from complete. A committee has been organized for building the permanent memorial honoring these Fontana casualties. It will be placed adjacent to City Hall. Those interested in donating or participating in the campaign can contact Freeman at 951-505-4114 or billfreeman68gmail.com.
The full-color book is also available for purchase through Freeman. All the proceeds go to support the memorial and traveling exhibit.
Upland home tour
Upland Heritage will hold its annual Home Tour on April 16 visiting six historic houses and the main office of San Antonio Water Co.
The tour, which begins at 830 N. Euclid Ave., runs from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The cost is $40 in advance and $45 on the day of the five-hour tour. Advance tickets are available at the group’s website at www.uplandheritage.org.
None of the houses are particularly accessible for those with disabilities. Most are Spanish Colonial and English Revival in design, built between 1925 and 1931.
Information: 909-981-0280 or the Upland Heritage website.
Pomona historic tours
The Historical Society of Pomona Valley has tours scheduled of its historic sites in April.
• April 16, tours are held between 2 and 5 p.m. at the Phillips Mansion Museum and Currier Home, 2640 Pomona Blvd., Pomona. Tours, $20, must be purchased in advance at www.pomonahistorical.org.
• April 23, free tours of the Palomares Adobe Museum, 491 E. Arrow Highway, Pomona, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. as part of the Heart of the Foothills event.
• April 30, tours of the Barbara Greenwood Kindergarten, 332 W. McKinley Ave., Pomona, are held every half-hour between 2 and 5 p.m. Cost is $5 in advance at www.pomonahistorical.org.
• Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, tours of the Ebell Museum of Local History, 585 E. Holt Ave., Pomona, are available by appointment from 1 to 5 p.m. by calling 909-623-2198.
Joe Blackstock writes on Inland Empire history. He can be reached at joe.blackstock@gmail.com or Twitter @JoeBlackstock. Check out some of our columns of the past at Inland Empire Stories on Facebook at www.facebook.com/IEHistory
