Rollin Arnold Fritch (May 9, 1920 - January 8, 1945) was a United States Coast Guard seaman who died at his weapons station while shooting at a

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

ese kamikaze, during World War II. Rollin was the youngest of seven children, born to farmers, who grew up near Pawnee City, Nebraska. Fritch worked in a meat packing plant before he enlisted in the Coast Guard in 1942. In January 1945 he was part of a weapons crew assigned to the

USS Callaway USS ''Callaway'' (APA-35) was a that served with the US Navy, and was manned by the United States Coast Guard during World War II. Initially designated as a Navy Transport AP-80, ''Callaway'' was quickly re-designated as attack transport APA-3 ...

, a troop transport operated by the United States Navy. Fritch was seen firing at the kamikaze until it struck his ship, killing him and 28 crew-mates, off Luzon, on January 8, 1945. In 1945 Fritch was awarded a posthumous

Silver Star The Silver Star Medal (SSM) is the United States Armed Forces' third-highest military decoration for valor in combat. The Silver Star Medal is awarded primarily to members of the United States Armed Forces for gallantry in action against an e ...

. According to the Coast Guard: : In 2010, Charles "Skip" W. Bowen, who was then the Coast Guard's most senior

non-commissioned officer A non-commissioned officer (NCO) is a military officer who has not pursued a commission. Non-commissioned officers usually earn their position of authority by promotion through the enlisted ranks. (Non-officers, which includes most or all enli ...

, proposed that all 58 cutters in the Sentinel class should be named after enlisted Coast Guardsmen, or one of the Coast Guard's precursor services, who were recognized for their heroism. In 2014 the Coast Guard announced that Rollin A. Fritch would be the namesake of the 19th cutter, USCGC ''Rollin A. Fritch''. She was built in Lockport, Louisiana, at the

Bollinger shipyards Bollinger Shipyards is an American constructor of ships, workboats and patrol vessels. Its thirteen shipyards and forty drydocks are located in Louisiana and Texas. Its drydocks range in capacity from vessels of 100 tons displacement to 22,000 to ...

, and delivered to the Coast Guard in August 2016. After completing three months of sea trials, the cutter will be commissioned in November 2016. Her homeport is near the Coast Guard's Cape May Training Center. In January 2015, seventy years after his death, the '' Lincoln Journal Star'' interviewed his niece, Donna Fuller, who said the Coast Guard officer who contacted her to invite her to the ship's commissioning said he had spent eight months searching for Fritch's surviving relatives. She remembered her uncle as being very kind. The Coast Guard flew Fuller and her brother to Lockport to see the ship to be named after her uncle during its construction.

References

{{Reflist, refs= {{cite news , url = http://www.piersystem.com/go/doc/786/502127/ , title = U.S. Coast Guard announces name for first Sentinel-class cutter , date = 2010-03-22 , accessdate = 2013-02-01 , archivedate = 2010-03-25 , archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20100325004004/http://www.piersystem.com/go/doc/786/502127/ , url-status = dead , quote = Previously designated to be named the Coast Guard Cutter Sentinel, the cutter Bernard C. Webber will be the first of the service's new 153-foot patrol cutters. Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Thad Allen approved the change of the cutter's name to allow this class of vessels to be named after outstanding enlisted members who demonstrated exceptional heroism in the line of duty. This will be the first class of cutters to be named exclusively for enlisted members of the Coast Guard and its predecessor services. {{cite news , url = http://www.defenseindustrydaily.com/voted-off-the-island-the-uscgs-deepwater-frc-program-03160/ , title = FRC Plan B: The Sentinel Class , publisher =

Defense Industry Daily Defense or defence may refer to: Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups * Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare * Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks * Defense indus ...

, date = 2014-05-02 , archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20140707003537/http://www.defenseindustrydaily.com/voted-off-the-island-the-uscgs-deepwater-frc-program-03160/ , archivedate = 2014-07-07 , accessdate = 2014-04-03 , url-status = live , quote = All of these boats will be named after enlisted Coast Guard heroes, who distinguished themselves in USCG or military service. The first 25 have been named, but only 8 have been commissioned... {{cite news , url = http://militarytimes.com/blogs/scoopdeck/2010/03/22/enlisted-heroes-honored/ , title = Enlisted heroes honored , publisher = United States Coast Guard , author = Susan Schept , date = 2010-03-22 , accessdate = 2013-02-01 , archivedate = 2011-12-03 , archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20111203173204/http://militarytimes.com/blogs/scoopdeck/2010/03/22/enlisted-heroes-honored/ , url-status = live , quote = After the passing of several well-known Coast Guard heroes last year, Master Chief Petty Officer of the Coast Guard Charles "Skip" Bowen mentioned in his blog that the Coast Guard does not do enough to honor its fallen heroes. {{cite news , url = https://www.workboat.com/news/government/coast-guard-takes-delivery-19th-frc/ , title = Coast Guard takes delivery of FRCs 18 and 19 , author = Ashley Herriman , date = 2016-08-25 , archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20200408022429/https://www.workboat.com/news/government/coast-guard-takes-delivery-19th-frc/ , archivedate = 2020-04-08 , accessdate = 2016-08-26 , url-status = live , quote = The decision to homeport the Rollin Fritch in New Jersey officially marks the expansion of FRC operations outside the Bahamas and the Caribbean. The Coast Guard plans to station FRCs in virtually every coastal state, but so far the first 17 FRCs have been stationed in either Florida or Puerto Rico. {{cite news , url = http://www.marinelog.com/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=22799:bollinger-delivers-frc-rollin-fritch-to-coast-guard&Itemid=230 , title = Bollinger delivers FRC Rollin Fritch to Coast Guard , publisher = Marine Log , date = 2016-08-23 , location =

Bollinger Shipyards Bollinger Shipyards is an American constructor of ships, workboats and patrol vessels. Its thirteen shipyards and forty drydocks are located in Louisiana and Texas. Its drydocks range in capacity from vessels of 100 tons displacement to 22,000 to ...

, archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20160913112647/http://www.marinelog.com/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=22799:bollinger-delivers-frc-rollin-fritch-to-coast-guard&Itemid=230 , archivedate = 2016-09-13 , url-status = live , quote = The Coast Guard took delivery of the cutter today in Key West, FL, and is scheduled to commission the vessel in Cape May, NJ, in November. {{cite news , url = http://www.marinelink.com/news/bollinger-delivers-uscg414318.aspx , title = Bollinger Delivers 19th FRC to the USCG , publisher = Marine Link , author = Eric Haun , date = 2016-08-23 , archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20160824002221/http://www.marinelink.com/news/bollinger-delivers-uscg414318.aspx , archivedate = 2016-08-24 , accessdate = 2016-08-23 , url-status = live , quote = All previous cutters have been stationed in the 7th Coast Guard District in Florida or San Juan, Puerto Rico. The decision to homeport the Rollin Fritch in Cape May, N.J. is significant because it expands the footprint of FRC operations beyond the Bahamas and the Caribbean. {{cite news , url = http://journalstar.com/news/state-and-regional/u-s-coast-guard-names-new-cutter-after-war-hero/article_16bbf90c-f640-5a8a-8bdb-e4a563032e36.html , title = U.S. Coast Guard names new cutter after war hero , author = Algis J. Laukaitis , publisher = Lincoln Journal Star , date = 2015-01-12 , archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20150115014607/http://journalstar.com/news/state-and-regional/u-s-coast-guard-names-new-cutter-after-war-hero/article_16bbf90c-f640-5a8a-8bdb-e4a563032e36.html , archivedate = 2015-01-15 , accessdate = 2016-08-24 , url-status = live , quote = Fuller said Rollin was the youngest of seven kids in her dad's family and although the Coast Guard lists his birthplace as Pawnee City, Rollin was born in Blue Rapids, Kansas, about 56 miles southwest of Pawnee City. 1920 births 1945 deaths United States Coast Guard personnel killed in World War II Recipients of the Silver Star People from Pawnee City, Nebraska Military personnel from Nebraska United States Coast Guard enlisted