Lance Cpl. Fred Lee Maciel
Born Nov. 7, 1984 in Harris Co. TX
Died Jan. 26, 2005 near Ar Rutbah, Iraq
When Fred was a baby, his birth parents decided to take a trip to Las Vegas, leaving Fred with another woman to care for him. His parents never came back from their trip for reasons unknown. Patsy Maciel saw Fred was not being taken care of properly in his new home. So she took Fred into her home to raise him. Patsy had another son, Carlos, who was 8 years old at the time and Fred and Carlos became instant friends and held the bond of brothers forever more. At the age of eight, the Maciel family officially adopted Fred. When the judge asked him what surname he wished to have, Fred stood there with a big smile on his face and with no hesitation said, “I want my brother’s last name!” And so it was. When introduced as brothers, people would look at Fred and Carlos with questionable eyes. Fred stood six feet tall, with blue eyes and blond hair. Carlos was five feet tall, black hair, and brown eyes. Brothers? They’d just laugh; they knew they were indeed brothers. Fred graduated from Spring Green High School in 2003 where he was a natural athlete, excelling at basketball and football, and a leader in the Naval Junior ROTC program. In September of 2003 he enlisted in the Marine Corps, because he wanted to protect Texas and Americans from terrorists. After basic training and infantry school, Fred reported to Hawaii, assigned to the 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, 1st Marine Division. In September of 2004 he deployed with his unit to Iraq and was part of the Marine Corps units that secured the area of Fallujah and captured insurgents in preparation for the elections that were to take place on January 30. Fred’s courage, commitment and character shinned during his deployment. On January 26, Fred was one of the military personnel killed when the CH-53E helicopter they were onboard crashed near Ar Rutbah. Fred was set to come home in February, marry his fiancée and eventually wished to become a Texas State Trooper, continuing his commitment to protecting and serving his fellow man. Fred was survived by his mother, Patsy; stepfather Richard Garza; his brother Carlos and several other relatives.
Burial: Calvary Hill Cemetery in Harris County, Texas
The Lance Cpl. Fred Lee Maciel by Freedom Remembered, unless otherwise expressly stated, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 United States License.
