Frederic N. Varlese

Fred Varlese was born in October 1941 in Kearny, New Jersey and raised in Union Beach, New Jersey. He enlisted in the Air Force six months before his high school graduation in 1960, feeling that it was important for him as an American to sign up to defend his country. Varlese was the first in his family or among his friends to enlist; he wanted to make a lifelong career in the military. As soon as he graduated, he was sworn into the Air Force in Newark, New Jersey and almost immediately flown to Randolph Air Force Base in Texas for basic training and assignment to the 384th Refueling Squadron. Varlese recalled in-air refueling as being treated as “top secret” since America was one of the only countries that knew how to do it at the time. It was so top secret, he was not even able to contact his family. Varlese said refueling in midair “was very intense, very dangerous, and you really had to be focused on what you were doing.” 

Varlese enlisted in the armed forces at a time before troops were sent to Vietnam. After training in Texas and Florida, he was stationed in Greenland. Varlese described the weather in Canada, Greenland, Newfoundland and Labrador as extremely cold and hard to deal with. It was dark for half of the year at the old submarine base Varlese was stationed at with a few hundred other men. While he was stationed there during the Cold War, he had to sleep in a hangar with his clothes on, because he was on call to deploy at any time. Varlese also flew out of Portugal during those years, as a crew member on bombers that patrolled western Europe.

When leaving for Vietnam in 1964, Varlese recalled stopping in the Philippines for a month, because there was not a great need for supplies in Vietnam yet, as it was early in the war. He recalled his plane being shot at while flying into the country. A requirement to go to Vietnam then was to have over four years of service, to be a Noncommissioned officer, as well as be a volunteer. Varlese, a sergeant, stressed that before massive American intervention, mainly “professional” military personnel were deployed to Vietnam. When Americans flew aircraft in Vietnam a South Vietnamese advisor was required to be on the plane too, until 1965. When Varlese came to Vietnam, his specialty changed from refueler to crew chief.

Varlese, like a lot of men in Vietnam, lost people who he knew. One morning while on base, he heard a huge explosion. A mortar round hit the ammo dump and set off a chain reaction. All the planes were lined up next to each other loaded with bombs so they could be ready to leave on a moment’s notice. The explosion at the ammo dump hit the planes as well, causing a huge explosion and many casualties. He recalled that sixty men were never found!  There were outlines of bodies in the concrete, and body parts scattered about. The main problem was the timer on some of the bombs. A general and a flight crew that Varlese knew decided to try to freeze a fuse with a fire extinguisher. Instead of freezing, the bomb went off and killed both men immediately.

Varlese was the first Monmouth County resident to be injured in the war. With only 28 days left in his tour of duty, he was sent out to a Special Forces camp near Pleiku that was attacked by the Viet Cong. On arrival, a mortar round landed next to him and exploded, injuring his back and right leg. Varlese was driven back to base; and, when he arrived, the hospital was being mortared, and he had to wait for initial treatment. He was sent to Saigon for further treatment, and then on to the Philippines, Hawaii, California and Maryland. Varlese was discharged for disability.

After he recovered, Varlese received his Purple Heart medal on the congressional floor, as the first Purple Heart in his congressperson’s district. Varlese got invited to many venues and organization meetings because of his status as the first wounded soldier in the area. He joined the American Legion, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, and the Purple Heart Association, where he took on a leadership role after a few years. Varlese felt that some Vietnam veterans did not claim their Purple Hearts due to the stigma of the war.

As a 100% disabled veteran, Varlese retired with the same benefits as someone who has served twenty years in the military. He felt that he was taken care of extremely well, and said that “the government always treated me good.” Varlese felt that since his experience was not one that a lot of people have, most are not aware of the benefits. His postwar activities also included educating young people as well as giving lectures at Monmouth University. Varlese stressed the importance of teaching history the right way without leaving anything out, and believed that high school students who are a part of the JROTC are the future.

Fred Varlese lived to the age of 75. He passed peacefully at home with his family by his side on April 21, 2017. 

Additional Resource:

• TogetherWeServed.com
• Patch.com Article