Fred Yochim was born on April 20, 1918, in Willoughby, Ohio. He enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps on September 7, 1939, and was trained as a reconnaissance camera specialist and instructor before entering the Aviation Cadet Program of the U.S. Army Air Forces on March 11, 1942. Yochim was commissioned a 2d Lt and awarded his pilot wings at Luke Field, Arizona, on January 4, 1943, and after completing P-47 Thunderbolt Training he joined the 328th Fighter Squadron of the 352nd Fighter Group in England in April 1943. Lt Yochim was credited with the destruction of 1 enemy aircraft in aerial combat, 1 damaged in the air, 1 shared on the ground, and 1 probable destroyed on the ground while strafing enemy airfields, before being forced to bail out over enemy territory and becoming a Prisoner of War on April 9, 1944. He was held at Stalag Luft 3 in Sagan-Silesia, Bavaria, and later at Nuremberg-Langwasser before being liberated on April 29, 1945. After returning to the U.S. he served as an instrument instructor pilot before attending the Air Tactical School at Tyndall AFB, Florida, from September 1947 to January 1948. Capt Yochim's next assignment was as a project engineer with the Photo Lab at Wright Patterson AFB, Ohio, from January 1948 to September 1949, followed by service as an aeronautical engineer with the Research Lab at Cambridge, Massachusetts, from September 1949 to March 1951. He then returned to Wright Patterson AFB, where he served as an aerospace engineer and project engineer with Headquarters Air Development Force, Headquarters Wright Air Development Center, and at Boston University, from April 1951 to March 1953. Maj Yochim served as a project engineer for the modification of aircraft on temporary duty at Fort Worth, Texas, from March to April 1953, and then served as a reconnaissance systems consultant in the Reconnaissance Requirements Section at Headquarters U.S. Air Forces in Europe at Wiesbaden, West Germany, from April to October 1953. He next returned to Wright Patterson AFB and served as a reconnaissance systems consultant in the Reconnaissance Requirements Section from October 1953 to August 1955. Maj Yochim attended Commander & Staff School at Maxwell AFB, Alabama, from September 1955 to July 1956, and then served as operations officer with the 432nd Tactical Reconnaissance Group at Shaw AFB, South Carolina, from August 1956 to February 1958, followed by service as commander of the 432nd Consolidated Aircraft Maintenance Squadron at Shaw AFB from February to September 1958. His final assignment was back at Wright Patterson AFB, where he served as an Intelligence Staff Officer, Chief in the Advanced Techniques Branch, Project Officer in the Office of Special Projects, and Deputy Chief of Special Projects from October 1958 until his retirement from the Air Force on March 19, 1964. Fred Yochim died on August 27, 1971, and was buried at El Camino Memorial Park in San Diego, California.