2nd Lieutenant, US Army Air Forces
Enlisted February 24, 1943
Died October 10, 1944
Age 27

Nicholas William Freije enlisted in February 24, 1943. He was the copilot of a B-24J Liberator (#42-110005) of 408th Bomber Squadron, 22nd Bomber Group. He was declared missing in action when his plane suffered an engine loss from an accidental air burst phosphorous bomb and they were attacked by serval fighters and shot down at sea, about 20 miles from the target which was aviation fuel refineries at Balikpapan, Borneo on October 10, 1944. Freije and nine other crew members perished in the crash. He was survived by his parents Mr. and Mrs. Freije of Binghamton, and wife Margaret Jane Freije, also of Binghamton, NY. He was awarded the Air Medal and the Purple Heart. He is listed on the Tablet of Missing in the Manila American Military Cemetery.