Mon, Jul. 23, 2007 [from www.thestate.com]

HILTON HEAD ISLAND, SC — Colonel Fred E. Allen, U.S. Army (Ret.), Airborne Infantry, stood last parade Saturday, July 21, 2007. Born in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina December 18, 1917, to Young Joseph and Mae Burrage Allen, he is survived by his wife of 55 years, Sarah Orr Allen and his five children and nine grandchildren Fred and April, Hunter, Sarah, Chalmers and Charles Allen of Columbia; Richard and Brook, Brian and Emma Lawton Allen and Gage Jester of Hilton Head Island, John David Allen of Hilton Head Island, Troy and Mary Louise and Lila Alcott of Beaufort, Sarah and Craig and Warner Young of New York City; and by his sister Betty Allen Harris of Charlotte, N.C.

After joining the Army in the enlisted ranks in 1939, he was commissioned a lieutenant through Officer Candidate School in 1942 in the 517th Parachute Infantry Regiment. The 517th was one of the original Airborne units. Colonel Allen fought in five campaigns in the Second World War including the Ardennes, Southern France, The Rhineland, Rome-Arno and Central Europe. He was wounded in action and received the Purple Heart and the Bronze Star, among many awards and citations. He also served in the Korean War and the Vietnam Conflict.

After 32 years of military service to his country, Fred retired with his family to their farm in York County, S.C. He and Sarah moved to Beaufort County for the last eight years of his life to be close to their children and grandchildren. Fred’s children and wife are grateful to God for the years given them with their father and husband and thankful for the devotion and sacrifice Fred Allen made for them.