{"id":79441,"date":"2025-06-23T16:44:14","date_gmt":"2025-06-23T16:44:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2025\/06\/23\/fred-smith-fedex-founder-and-marine-corps-veteran-dies-at-80\/"},"modified":"2026-08-20T14:01:30","modified_gmt":"2026-08-20T14:01:30","slug":"fred-smith-fedex-founder-and-marine-corps-veteran-dies-at-80","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/your-navy\/2025\/06\/23\/fred-smith-fedex-founder-and-marine-corps-veteran-dies-at-80\/","title":{"rendered":"Fred Smith, FedEx founder and Marine Corps veteran, dies at 80"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Fred Smith, FedEx Corp. founder and Marine Corps veteran who revolutionized the express delivery industry, has died, the company said. He was 80.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A 1966 graduate of Yale University, Smith joined the Marines after college and was commissioned a second lieutenant. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He left the military as a captain in 1969 after two tours in Vietnam, where he was twice wounded and <a href=\"https:\/\/valor.militarytimes.com\/recipient\/recipient-23898\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"\" title=\"https:\/\/valor.militarytimes.com\/recipient\/recipient-23898\/\">earned the Silver Star for combat valor<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When he left the military, Smith didn\u2019t leave behind that idea of service and teamwork. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While growing FedEx from a small aircraft maintenance company to one of the world\u2019s largest transportation firms, he was also involved in numerous philanthropic efforts, many with military ties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Smith served as co-chairman of both the U.S. World War II Memorial project and the campaign for the National Museum of the Marine Corps, helping raise money and public support for both locations. Smith had six family members serve in World War II, making that project one \u201cwhere I just felt like I couldn\u2019t say no.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1946\" height=\"1317\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/FWS-Marines.jpg.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-109112\" srcset=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/FWS-Marines.jpg.jpg 1946w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/FWS-Marines.jpg.jpg?resize=300,203 300w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/FWS-Marines.jpg.jpg?resize=768,520 768w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/FWS-Marines.jpg.jpg?resize=1024,693 1024w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/FWS-Marines.jpg.jpg?resize=1536,1040 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1946px) 100vw, 1946px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">FedEx founder Frederick Smith (right) in Vietnam. Capt. Smith was discharged in 1969 after earning a Silver Star, a Bronze Star and two Purple Hearts. (Courtesy of Frederick Smith)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In 2022 Smith donated $65 million to the <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/mlb-politics-us-marine-corps-frederick-w-smith-fedex-corp-b3a17bae6d1e50122cf05d5e591db7d5\" rel=\"\">Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation<\/a> to endow a new scholarship fund for the children of Navy service members pursuing studies in STEM.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI just love the mission of that,\u201d he told Military Times. \u201cProviding education for the children of Marines and Navy personnel who served with Marines, that just put an exclamation point on my appreciation for what the Marine Corps taught me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI never went to graduate school at all, but I joke that I got an extra degree from U-S-m-C, and I just kinda garble up the M to confuse folks. But as I\u2019ve gotten older and look back, I realize how defining my time in the Marine Corps was to my whole life, and it makes me want to give back.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">FedEx, which is headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee, started operating in 1973 before blossoming into a company that became something of an economic bellwether with so many other companies relying on it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Smith told The Associated Press in <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/mlb-politics-us-marine-corps-frederick-w-smith-fedex-corp-b3a17bae6d1e50122cf05d5e591db7d5\" rel=\"\">a 2023 interview<\/a> that everything he did running FedEx came from his experience in the Marines, not what he learned at Yale.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Though one of Memphis\u2019 best-known and most prominent figures, Smith generally avoided the public spotlight, devoting his energies to work and family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Former President George W. Bush released a statement in which he praised Smith as \u201cone of the finest Americans of our generation\u201d and FedEx as an \u201dinnovative company that helped supercharge our economy.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen of Tennessee called Smith Memphis\u2019 \u201cmost important citizen.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cFedEx is the engine of our economy,\u201d he said, \u201cand Fred Smith was its visionary founder. But more than that, he was a dedicated citizen who cared deeply about our city.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Asked what it means to contribute to the public good, Smith once told the Associated Press, \u201cAmerica is the most generous country in the world. &#8230; I think if you\u2019ve done well in this country, it\u2019s pretty churlish for you not to at least be willing to give a pretty good portion of that back to the public interest.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For his military service, career and philanthropic work, Smith was named the 2024 Military Times\u2019 Veteran of the Year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><i>The Associated Press contributed to this report. <\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Before launching FedEx, Smith served two tours in Vietnam, where he was twice wounded and earned the Silver Star for combat valor.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":109929,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":65,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[101,12,26,65],"tags":[8497],"coauthors":[412],"class_list":["post-79441","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-news","category-newsletters","category-your-navy","tag-vietnam"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"47RG2VAI4JDTTGWKQ244ORCX2E","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/your-military\/2025\/06\/23\/fred-smith-fedex-founder-and-marine-corps-veteran-dies-at-80\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented 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