My heart is filled with sadness that cannot be helped.  I lost my GRAND  FATHER. He truly was a GRAND man on so many levels. The past few days have opened my eyes to how MANY lives he has impacted over the years.
   He was a man you could count on. He was a leader, a hero, a mentor, an inventor, a problem solver, and the strongest man I will ever know. I loved watching him work on projects. He did every job with pride and passion. You could see time and effort in everything he did including his family. 
    He taught me so many things and I am forever grateful to have had him for so many years. I can truly say I am the woman I am today because of him. I'm glad he is no longer suffering and can now get the rest he deserves. His kindness and love will forever live on in the hearts of those who knew him.
Lindzey Nicole Faust Hughes - Your Loving Granddaughter

Love. There is a lot to be said about love. I loved this man and he loved me. I held his hand through our toughest times and felt his love through his pain.  He was the strongest and most heroic man I ever met yet so humble. I have never been through so much heartache as I have watching him suffer. But through all his suffering he was still thinking and worrying about me. I will forever be grateful for our time together. Thank you for loving me. I love you forever.

I don’t know if it is often that a woman writes about the death of her husband,  but you all wrote about him and what a wonderful man he was and how much you loved him and here I am  in this empty house, it’s so quiet and I’m just sitting here alone after 62 years of being married to this man sharing my life with him through good times and bad times war and peace, times when he had to go to fight for this country and I was left alone with our son, hoping he would come back safe,and thank god he always did,he was always trying to do the best he could. We had some good times and a few not so good but we got through all of it together, these last few months of his life were not so good, everything went from good to bad so fast it  I’m was so hard to see him suffer, going down so fast in such a short time. I was with him day and night the many nights at the hospital but he wanted me to be with him all the time and I am glad I could be with him until the end. Now I’m here all alone and have to go on without him. It will not be easy but I still have my family , you all are so wonderful helping me with everything I love you so much!

Our beloved Father passed away quietly, at home, surrounded by friends and family. He was the last of a generation that was held to a higher standard of integrity,  honesty and service. He immigrated to the U.S. in 1955, and joined the Army to gain citizenship to the United States. He served 30 years in the U.S. ARMY and retired with the rank of Command Sergeant Major. He married my Mom and they started a family. He survived 2 tours of duty in Viet-Nam with the 101st Airborne Div.  and recieved the Bronze Star and the Air Medal. We did 5 tours of duty in Germany which kept us close to our family. He became a Father to Lynn, and loved her like his own flesh and blood. He became a Grandfather to 4 amazing women, and a great grandfather to 9 of the most wonderful children. 
He was a good husband to our Mother. He shared a life with her that neither one could have imagined having grown up in Germany during the latter part of WWII. I am so thankful for all he  taught me. A lot of technical things that I use daily to make a living,  and the critical thinking to make the best out of bad situation. To improvise, overcome, and adapt. But most of all, to treat all people with the same respect as you would want to be treated with. 
He was a true and great man. We love him so and will miss him with aching hearts, but we will find comfort in our memories of him.
Good bye Dad..  
Your Loving Son Freddy Earl Faust

I don't remember how long ago Freddy Faust introduced me to his mother and father, but it was a number of years back.  It was always good to see them afterwards; they are the kind of people one enjoys encountering and spending time with.  

Somewhere along the way, Friedhelm Faust brought up the topic of the Vietnam War.  We each knew the other was a veteran, but it wasn't a conversation we indulged in.  After briefing each other on mission status (when/where/unit/branch), I told him what the experience had sent me home with -- a deep distrust of our elected leadership's ability and morality to conduct such a venture, and disillusionment from the view of the war provided by intelligence work.  For me this wound refused to scab or scar:  the guilt stayed open and reinfected, as my sense of responsibility was intractable.

My war was easy compared to Friedhelm's.  Two tours of 101st Airborne combat were part of 30 decorated years he invested in his chosen American citizenship via the Army. 
 
He didn't take my comments in stride.  He thought about them silently, offered no judgment.  We shook hands, and that particular topic was permanently retired.  

Sometime later, I saw Friedhelm at an event in downtown Huntsville.  He placed a small box in my hand.  With a tight-lipped smile, he said "Here.  You deserve this." 

That November, I attended my first Veterans Day Parade.

On behalf of VVA chapter 1067 please except our condolences in the lost of a member and friend. As a board member he gave us so much that we might rise as the largest chapter in the state of Alabama. The Command Sergeant Major will be added to our wall of heroes. We promise The Faust family will never forget him.

Charlie Miller
CSM(R) President VVA 1067

Wundervolle Erinnerung an unseren Besuch 1992 

The first time I met Friedhelm Faust I immediately knew he was someone who practiced the same values my own father taught me to honor in my own life.
My own father served in WWII and believed in service before self. After the war, he continued to serve and even helped start an Army National Guard unit in my hometown. This post is, of course, not about my dear father, but it is about Friedhelm Faust, a man my own father would have respected.
When I first met Friedhelm, it was immediately clear to me he was a man of honor and integrity and commitment. He walked the walk and was an asset to our country and the community he called home. He was also a man who showed his joy and commitment in his home and family. His sense of humor erupted often and his warm smile made everyone comfortable. He was the man that can be described as one who never met a stranger. 
In this day and age, when the world seems so challenging, Friedhelm knew how to keep his eye on the prize, to walk the walk, to include and encourage others. 
My reflections seem inadequate and rife with clichés – I am sorry to find myself overwhelmed by feelings that seem to obscure my own thinking, but I am sincerely grateful I had the opportunity to get acquainted with this fine man. I send my heartfelt sympathies to his family who will, no doubt, feel lost without him. As a woman who served a career in the US Air Force, volunteered for Peace Corps service, worked in AmeriCorps *VISTA* and taught at a variety of schools, I have met many people who are guided by their values and principles, but I salute Friedhelm Faust as one of the finest role models I have met. The world has lost a fine human being. We can honor his memory by living the values he represented. We can walk the walk.   – Virginia J. Pulver, USAF (Ret) 


Heinz and I met Fred and Gisela in 1983 in Seneca Army Depot in NY. We became friends and formed a close relationship . Gisela and I did many things together , like taking  an GRE at the University in Stranton, Fred and Heinz supported us all  the way! 
Although we did not see each other after that assignment we stayed in touch! 
Fred was a great man with many talents, we will
Miss him !! 

I have always been grateful for the time your dad and I spoke before I went into the military. If I remember, I was considering either the Army or Air Force. Then he told me a story about repelling out of a helicopter and how he could hear the bullets zipping by; he then suggested I go into the Air Force. I went into the Air Force several months later. 

He was a great man and I was blessed to know him. Rest in peace Friedhelm. 

OBITUARY

RET CSM Friedhelm Faust

10 April, 1936 – 4 April, 2023

Valhalla Funeral Home & Memory Gardens

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