Golden Gate Wing Guest Speaker Archive

Presentation Date: April 23, 2015

Lynn Freeman, Lt Col United States Army


Lynn Freeman was born in Portland Oregon in 1923. His father was an insurance agent, his mother a homemaker. He graduated from Portland's Franklin High School in June 1941 and enrolled at the University of Oregon that fall.

In the spring of 1943, Lynn was called to active duty in the Army. He was sent to the east coast where he attended classes at Georgetown University for the purpose of getting a degree in Engineering. In April 1943 the Engineering Program was cancelled and he was transferred to Camp Swift, Texas where he joined the 406th Infantry Regiment, 102nd Infantry Division. The Division was training to participate in the battle for the European continent.

Lynn arrived in France after D-Day, too late to participate in the landings. From France, his Division was moved to Southern Holland where they participated in the Allied effort to free Europe. He was wounded and evacuated in November 1944.

Upon return to his unit, Lynn’s assignment was changed from gunner on a light machine gun to Non-Commissioned Officer in a 60 mm mortar section. He remained there until the cessation of hostilities. During that period, he was promoted to 2nd Lieutenant in the field.

After the war, Lynn returned to the states for leave followed by a tour of duty in the US Zone Constabulary in Germany. This assignment lasted for one year and he was returned to the states for separation.

Lynn returned to the University of Oregon for several months until he was recalled to active duty. He was assigned to the 2nd Infantry Division and went to fight in the Korean conflict when the North Koreans attacked the southern part of the country. After participating in the first five months of this war, he was rotated home. He was also wounded during that conflict. The rest of his career was assigned to non-combat positions.

After several years, Lynn transferred his branch from Infantry to the Finance Corps. After 22 years of active duty, he retired from the Army as a Lieutenant Colonel. Among his numerous awards and decorations, his favorites are two Purple Hearts and two Combat Infantry Badges.

After retiring from the Army, he moved to the East Bay and worked for Contra Costa county as an administrative services officer for 18 years.

Lynn married Dorothy Thomson in San Francisco, California in 1947. After 42 years of marriage, he was widowed. He has three daughters, two sons-in-law, seven grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

For more than 20 years, Lynn’s partner has been Dasha Zablocki, a retired Air Force Nurse Lieutenant Colonel who flew Air Evac missions during the Vietnam war. They live in Concord.