Creative genius, haunted by war, sculpted monumental tribute to buddies killed in combat age 94
World War II combat pilot Fredric Arnold invented the folding aluminum beach chair — just one aspect of his remarkable American story
Fredric Arnold was a child-prodigy artist and "reluctant warrior" who miraculously survived 50 combat missions flying P-38s during World War II. The artist, author, actor and inventor lived an even more amazing life after the war.
Fredric Arnold was a "reluctant warrior," creative dynamo and decorated World War II combat pilot.
He miraculously survived 50 missions of flying P-38 Lightning warplanes over North Africa and Europe.
The death he witnessed and inflicted in war was in deep contrast with the mild-mannered child prodigy artist from Chicago who spent the rest of his life as a creator: drawing, writing, acting and inventing.
"He was a sensitive artist who ended up killing and [was] at risk of being killed in combat," his son, Marc Arnold, told Fox News Digital.
"It was a torturous experience for him," he said.
Yet the human gift of creativity within Arnold survived and thrived despite the scars of war.
Fredric Arnold was a child-prodigy artist from Chicago and just 19 years old when the United States was attacked at Pearl Harbor. Arnold fought 50 combat missions overseas, and lived an incredible life after the war as artist, author, actor, sculptor and inventor. His most commonly used invention was the folding aluminum beach chair. At age 94, he completed a sculpture dedicated to the 88,000 American pilots killed in World War II. (Courtesy Fredric Arnold Family)
Among other creative achievements, Arnold patented the aluminum-and-nylon folding beach chair, so familiar to summertime sand, surf, backyards and barbecues across the United States.
"Portable and easy to store, the American-style Lawn Chair is the ultimate symbol of the ideal summer day," Phaidon Press wrote in its 2018 coffee-table tome, "Chair: 500 Designs That Matter."
"He was a sensitive artist who ended up killing and [was] at risk of being killed in combat." — son Marc Arnold
For Arnold, the popular invention was a mere footnote in one chapter of a truly remarkable American life: war hero, innovator, entrepreneur, novelist and TV and movie actor.
A couple enjoy the sun while sitting in folding aluminum chairs at Rockaway Beach, Queens, New York City, in August 1984. (Barbara Alper/Getty Images)
Through it all, for 70 years, he was haunted by the memories his buddies killed in combat.
His story ended only after Arnold fulfilled a promise to his World War II brothers in arms. He completed a triumphant sculpture in their honor and shared it with the nation — his last grand creative effort as an artist, at age 94.
‘Naive about military matters’
Fredric Lionel Kohn was born to parents of Russian Jewish descent, David and Idele Kohn, in Chicago on Jan. 23, 1922.
The gifted artist was a paid professional by 11 years old, supporting his family by drawing portraits of Second City movers and shakers.
Two Lockheed P-38 Lightning aircraft fly on the Pacific Front during World War II, circa 1943. (Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
Fredric Arnold became his Anglicized professional name as his family battled antisemitism.
He was just 19 when the United States entered World War II after the attack on Pearl Harbor.
Arnold dutifully enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps. He mistakenly believed that pursuit plane P-38 Lightning pilots would serve only stateside in defending the homeland.
"There’s no question in my mind that he was a skilled aviator." — Dr. John M. Curatola, National World War II Musuem
"He was naive about military matters," son Marc Arnold said.
He shipped overseas instead in the early years of the war, when the Germans still enjoyed superiority in both air power and pilot experience.
Arnold helped turn the tide of World War II. He fought over North Africa and Sicily in 1942 and 1943 — miraculously surviving 50 missions.
"Decoys are death," reads the label on this drawing. Fredric Arnold of Chicago was a child-prodigy artist who became a decorated World War II combat pilot, surviving a remarkable 50 missions over North Africa and Europe. His post-action drawings were used to help improve the air-combat capabilities of American pilots, who fought early in the war against mostly more experienced German airmen. (Courtesy Fredric Arnold Family)
The sensitive artist proved a ferocious warrior. He was promoted to major by age 23.
"There’s no question in my mind that he was a skilled aviator who survived flying high-performance aircraft in combat environments," Dr. John M. Curatola, historian at the National World War II Museum in New Orleans, told Fox News Digital.
Arnold followed each mission by drawing combat sketches to illustrate the battle. They often explained deadly mistakes made by American pilots — and were used to train thousands of future pilots.
He was shot down twice — the second time captured by German officers.
"I felt no hatred, only fear," he wrote later in his 1984 wartime novel, "Doorknob Five Two."
His fear as an enemy combatant was heightened by fear over his faith.
World War II veteran and artist Frederic Arnold was inspired to patent the collapsible aluminum beach chair after he and his wife Natalie grew tired of lugging heavy gear to enjoy the sand and sea. They were married for nearly 72 years, from 1946 until Fredric's death in 2018. (Courtesy Fredric Arnold Family)
"I squared my helmet and adjusted my goggles over my forehead, trying to hide the Jewish star sewn into my helmet," he wrote.
He miraculously escaped a POW camp, then returned to fly four more missions before he was finally relieved of combat duty.
"I squared my helmet and adjusted my goggles over my forehead, trying to hide the Jewish star sewn into my helmet." — Major Fredric Arnold
Arnold was one of only two pilots in his 14-man unit to live through World War II.
He and the other survivor, Jim Hagenback, made a promise as young men that Arnold would store away for 70 years.
Artist, inventor and actor Fredric Arnold earned his wings as a combat pilot in World War II. He gifted them to his son Marc when he earned his pilot license at age 16. Today, Marc Arnold wears the wings as a bracelet. "I've never taken them off," said the 66-year-old son. (Courtesy Fredric Arnold Family)
"We vowed to each other that whoever was left standing would do something to honor the twelve," Arnold wrote years later, after Hagenback’s death.
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"I am the last man standing of my original group."
'Quite the Renaissance man'
Arnold pursued his career in art in New York City after the war. He legally changed his name from Kohn to Arnold.
"It was one way of putting the war behind him and starting new," said son Marc.
Arnold possessed a rare combination of high levels of artistic creativity and mechanical aptitude.
After combat duty, he helped the Army design improvements to P-38 performance and designed a cockpit urinal for female pilots — a convenience the military apparently overlooked.
Artist, inventor and World War II veteran Fredric Arnold created the folding aluminum beach chair after the war, receiving the patent for it in 1959. The Fredric Arnold Co. of Brooklyn produced over 14,000 chairs a day at its peak. (Public domain/U.S. Patent and Trademark Office)
His most well-known innovation was devoted not to wartime but to leisure time.
"He’s quite the Renaissance man," said Dr. Curatola of the National World War II Museum.
He devised a way to bend aluminum, a fairly new material in the 1940s, to create the type of "American lawn chair" known today: collapsible, sturdy, portable and so lightweight a child can carry one.
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It was inspired by a frustrating encounter as his wife Natalie dragged heavy furniture to a Long Island beach. He received the patent for his lightweight but sturdy folding chair on Feb. 3, 1959.
Fredric Arnold devised a way to bend aluminum, a fairly new material in the 1940s, to create the type of "American lawn chair" known today: collapsible, sturdy, portable and so lightweight a child can carry one. (Getty Images)
The chairs proved a pop-culture sensation.
He founded the Fredric Arnold Co. in Brooklyn, in the shadows of the Brooklyn Bridge, which at its height produced 14,000 folding beach chairs per day.
Despite his success, the war and the memories of his buddies killed overseas haunted Arnold.
"We vowed to each other that whoever was left standing would do something to honor the twelve." — Major Fredric Arnold
He suffered a mental "crisis," his son called it, in 1977. We now recognize it as post-traumatic stress disorder.
He was encouraged in treatment to write out his experiences. More than 1,000 pages poured out of him after being bottled up inside the artist for nearly four decades.
"His goal was to write a confession to his children," his son Marc said.
"An individual achievement needs team cooperation." Fredric Arnold of Chicago was a child-prodigy artist who became a decorated World War II combat pilot, surviving 50 missions over North Africa and Europe. His post-action drawings helped improve the air-combat capabilities of U.S. pilots. (Courtesy Fredric Arnold Family)
It was condensed down into the novel "Doorknob Five Two," his call sign in the war.
Much like "Catch-22" by World War II bomber crewman Joseph Heller, it was a fictionalized account that chronicled the real trauma suffered by American airmen under the constant threat of death.
"I had fired at them, killed them, yet never really seen them," Arnold wrote of the enemies he slaughtered from the cockpit of his warplane.
Now a novelist, Arnold pursued yet another career in his 60s: acting.
"I had fired at them, killed them, yet never really seen them." — Major Arnold
He was never a leading man, but proved a natural. With no acting experience, he landed roles on some of the most popular TV shows of the 1980s: "Dynasty," "Hill Street Blues," "Knots Landing" and "Punky Brewster."
He also made it onto the silver screen with a small role in the hit comedy "The Naked Gun."
The most important chapter in his creative life was still to come: fulfilling the promise he made to honor the 12 young men from his unit who never returned.
World War II veteran and artist Fredric Arnold was 94 when he completed the sculpture "Lest We Forget: The Mission" in honor of the 12 pilots from his 14-man squadron killed during World War II. The two survivors vowed to that the "last one standing would do something to honor" their fallen buddies. The sculpture was completed in 2016, more than 70 years after the end of the war. It's on display at the National World War II Museum in New Orleans. (Courtesy Fredric Arnold Family)
He spent his final years devoted to a monumental bronze sculpture called "Lest We Forget: The Mission."
He completed the dramatic work in 2016, at age 94.
The haunting sculpture depicts 12 pilots — his 12 buddies killed in action — getting their final briefing.
There are two empty spaces in the briefing room, representing Arnold and fellow survivor Hagenback.
"He considered it the most important work of his life," said his son Marc.
Artist and combat pilot Fredric Arnold created the sculpture "Lest We Forget: The Last Mission" to honor the 12 men in his 14-man squadron killed in World War II. Arnold was 94 when he completed the project in 2016, fulfilling a promise he made to honor his dead buddies more than 70 years earlier. (Photography by Jafe Parsons)
"We shall never forget the courage of those who defended our freedoms," Major Arnold said after completing the sculpture.
‘A national treasure’
Fredric Arnold died of natural causes in Boulder, Colorado, on May 28, 2018.
It was Memorial Day.
Artist and "reluctant warrior" Fredric Arnold flew 50 combat mission in World War II. He returned to art after the war. Among other inventions, he patented the folding aluminum beach in the 1950s. It's since become an iconic symbol of summertime in America. (Courtesy Fredric Arnold Family)
He was 96 years old.
He left behind his wife of 71 years, Natalie, and three children.
He gifted the nation he fought for and nearly died for new post-war ease with his beach chairs.
"Fredric Arnold is truly a national treasure, both as a Fighter Pilot of WWII who survived 50 combat missions and as a talented sculptor." — Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairmen Powell, Myers, Pace
He also gave the nation a tribute to war heroes with his monumental sculpture.
"Lest We Forget: The Mission" resides in a place of honor at the National World War II Museum in New Orleans. It has since expanded in meaning beyond his 12 buddies.
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It "was created to help ensure that future generations would understand the human cost of war and to honor the memory of the more than 88,000 U.S. airmen who perished during the war," the museum states online.
Fredric Arnold was a decorated World War II combat pilot and a creative dynamo. (Courtesy Fredric Arnold Family)
"Fredric Arnold is truly a national treasure, both as a Fighter Pilot of WWII who survived 50 combat missions and as a talented sculptor," read a statement issued upon his death by three former Chairmen of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Colin Powell, Gen. Richard Myers and Gen. Peter Pace.
Fredric and Natalie Arnold were married for 71 years, partnering together on numerous artistic and business projects. They are buried at Mountain View Memorial Park in Boulder, Colorado. (Courtesy Fredric Arnold Family)
A memorial stone next to Arnold's grave shares the lifelong wish of a creator tortured by the memory of those who had fallen — and those he had killed.
"May the peoples of the world learn to solve their differences peacefully."
Postscript: haunting echoes of two war heroes
Arnold's wartime and postwar story echoes with haunting similarity that of another architect of the postwar American lifestyle: Fred Morrison, the American who invented the Frisbee, also featured in the Fox News Digital "Meet the American Who" series.
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Both were named Fred. Both flew dual-purpose pursuit planes, Morrison a P-47. Both miraculously survived 50 or more terrifying combat missions. Both were shot down and sent to German POW camps.
Fred Morrison and Fred Arnold even shared the same birthday. Frisbee Fred was born on Jan. 23, 1920; folding chair Fred was born on Jan. 23, 1922.
Both men conceived their inventions at the beach – with the women they married.
"There is an obvious connection between the two men," Marc Arnold said of his dad, and of Morrison, after Fox News Digital shared the similarities between the two men.
To read more stories in this unique "Meet the American Who…" series from Fox News Digital, click here.
"I think after the horrors of war they left behind, they sought to build a new reality. I think after surviving all that carnage they thought, What’s the point of living if there aren’t also on the other end a spectrum of joyous opportunities?"
Kerry J. Byrne is a lifestyle reporter with Fox News Digital.
