#1473 2012 Ranking
Freddy's Frozen Custard Wichita, KS | FreddysUSA.com Company Overview 2012 STATISTICS 3-year growth: 203% 2011 Revenue: $70.5 million 2008 Revenue: $23.2 million Employees: 2610 Jobs added, prev. 3 years: 1395 Founded: 2002 Industry: Food & Beverage Industry rank: #46 Business Model: Manages a chain of restaurants that sell freshly-made frozen custards, signature desserts and cooked-to-order savory items, including steak burgers, Chicago-style hotdogs and shoestring French fries. Trophy Case #46 in Food & Beverage http://<object width="1280" height="720"><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true"></param><param name="movie" value="http://www.facebook.com/v/3816297240904"></param><embed src="http://www.facebook.com/v/3816297240904" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="1" width="1280" height="720"></embed></object>
Or: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=3816297240904 This Article appeared in the Sedalia Democrat on August 10, 2012. It was written by Latisha Koetting who spent 30 minutes with Freddy Simon, namesake of Freddy's Frozen Custard & Steakburgers. Latisha interviews veterans about their "1st story" regarding their active military duty. This interview was conducted prior to the Grand Opening visit to the Sedalia Freddy's location by Freddy himself.
By Latisha Koetting Democrat Newsroom Assistant [email protected] When Jim Gaertner, of Green Ridge, sat down at Freddy’s Frozen Custard restaurant for the first time, he saw something that caught his eye. Hung on the wall were pictures of Freddy Simon and his adventures with the 1st Cavalry in World War II. “We were in the same outfit,” said Gaertner, a Vietnam veteran. When an employee mentioned Simon, one of the co-founders of the restaurant, would be in Sedalia for a ribbon cutting this week, Gaertner knew he wanted to meet him. He asked the management if he could invite other 1st Cavalry veterans to attend and have a photo taken. They accepted his invitation and on Thursday Simon visited with these veterans and shared his service story. EARLY DAYS Simon, of Wichita, Kan., really wanted to be a fighter pilot. When he turned 18, he went to Kansas City and discovered he didn’t qualify because he was color blind. He joined the Army and did his basic training at Fort Riley, Kan. He was trained to be a gunner and learned everything about the Browning Automatic Rifle (BAR). He trained from July to December before being sent to San Francisco. He boarded the SS Washington, a luxury liner that was converted into a troop ship. More than 10,000 men took to the ocean and zig-zagged their way to New Guinea. The trip took nearly two weeks and the men were allowed on deck only a few times a day. They went to Manila Bay and Simon told his buddies he was going to whip the Japanese Army by himself. “They made us come down the ropes, no docks or anything. Full pack, gun. I hit the bottom and I said ‘I wanna go home’ but it was too late,” he said. He joined the 1st Cavalry and their first mission was to take the Admiralty Islands, a task that would take them three months to accomplish. In October 1944, he was put on a troop ship and was part of the first wave at Leyte –– part of Gen. Douglas MacArthur’s promise to return to the Philippine Islands. “I was the sixth guy off the first boat that hit the shore, scared to death,” Simon said. “Fortunately, the Navy and Air Corps had plastered the beach with ready-made foxholes.” The Americans dug in after they traveled about two blocks. MacArthur came in about six hours later. The next morning they looked up and saw 100 Mitsubishi bombers overhead coming after the supply ships. About that time, more than 40 P-38s came out, and attacked them. Empty shells from the fighter planes were falling in the foxholes. “Every time they’d knock down a Mitsubishi, we’d get up and clap, which is stupid because the Japanese were right across the way,” Simon said. Only one Mitsubishi made it through the line, but the anti-aircraft got it. The third day in Leyte, the Japanese got behind the Americans and cut them off. Simon and his men had only K-rations with them and were stranded for days. They decided the only way they could take their hill back was to attack in the middle of the night. “They were in our foxholes, because they took our hill. So we charged that hill and hardly lost anybody, but we wiped them out and got our supplies back,” Simon said. “I was lucky I survived all of it.” His lieutenant told him he was going to recommend him for the Silver Star. Unfortunately, he was killed and the citation never got processed. The men took Leyte one hill at a time over three months. TAKING MANILA BACK Simon was put on another troop ship and they went up through the islands to Lingayen Bay. The troop ships were placed in the middle of the warships. Simon didn’t discover until much later in life that the kamikaze pilots sunk 27 cruisers and destroyers and damaged numerous others. The mission was to release prisoners located at the University of Santa Tomas and Cabanatuan. The 6th Army Rangers, who were attached to the 1st Cavalry, took the lead. In all, two rangers and two prisoners were killed in the rescue mission. Manila was next on the list. MacArthur’s office was located on the fifth floor of the Manila hotel, and he wanted it back. Simon and his assistant BAR man, Junior Gonzalez, were assigned to watch the mezzanine steps. They witnessed one Japanese soldier crawl behind a wall and give the signal to detonate a grenade. Simon said either the soldier committed suicide or he was too injured to complete his mission because the grenade didn’t go off. They eventually secured the fifth floor and Simon managed to pick up a keepsake — an ash tray with Manila Hotel on one side and made in the USA on the other. After the mission, MacArthur walked by the division and saluted his men. “MacArthur really loved the 1st Cav, because he was an old cavalry guy too. He picked us — we were his Marines. We were chosen to be the occupation troops of Toyko,” said Simon. Then, they started training for Operation Downfall. Simon was chosen to be part of the first wave at Kyushu Island, Japan, on Nov. 1, 1945, but the atomic bomb was dropped and the operation was aborted. Simon headed for Japan and went right past the USS Missouri as the peace treaty was being signed. He was promoted to sergeant and his first assignment was to disarm a Japanese hospital. “That was scarier than taking a building in Manila or being on patrol because we didn’t know if they knew the war was over,” he said. They found a Japanese man who knew a little English who wrote on a napkin “I will help you.” Simon still has it. “About the third day, I think the Japanese people found out that we weren’t going to torture them or do like they did to us,” he said. He witnessed the Japanese people helping out with everything. “I saw freedom happen, literally. It was just unbelievable.” |