Frederic Delano Blackwell was born on June 29, 1944 and joined the Armed Forces while in Columbus, Ohio.

He served in the United States Army. In 4 years of service, he attained the rank of Specialist 5th.

On June 19, 1969, at the age of 24, Frederic Delano Blackwell perished in the service of our country in South Vietnam, Phouc Tuy.

In 1967, in Washington, I met my husband Frederic D. Blackwell who was in the Army with the 82nd Airborne Division and stationed at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. In February 1968 President Johnson called up the 82nd Airborne Division for duty in Viet Nam. My husband spoke Vietnamese fluently and I was stunned when he wrote and said he was no longer with the 82nd Airborne Division and had joined the Army 5th Special Forces Group (The Green Berets). He was in the process of training a group a Montagnards and a land mine was triggered and he suffered extensive head injuries and died shortly thereafter on June 19, 1969. 

We did not have any children because when we married the Viet Nam conflict was escalating and he knew eventually he would be going to Viet Nam and he said we should wait until he returned because it is difficult raising children with two parents and he did not want any hardships for me. 

In my heart, I truly believed he would return to me unscathed. He is buried at Arlington Cemetery. I have been a member of Gold Star Wives since September 1969. Back in those days, addresses were put in the obituary notices and that was how I was contacted and I immediately joined.