CARLSBAD, Calif. – Retired music educator Charles (Chuck) Freebern ’52 has been
honored by his alma mater, the Army and Navy Academy, with the academy’s esteemed
Golden “A” Award.
A 1952 graduate and son of a former academy commandant, Freebern spent his career
teaching young people music, retiring as director of music education for San Diego City
Schools. Over the years, he has also been a strong supporter and important resource for
the academy’s Atkinson Warrior Band.
The award for lifetime achievement was given to Freebern during the academy’s Alumni
Weekend May 18-20, in which several hundred alumni from all over the country gathered
at the oceanfront military academy in San Diego.
“Chuck Freebern has been in the forefront of Alumni who support the Academy and is
the epitome of what one would hope for from any alumnus” said Academy President BG
Steve Bliss. “For the past decade, he made it his personal mission to restore the Warrior
Atkinson Band to its past prominence. Largely through his efforts, we have done so.”
Bliss goes on to say, “I cannot think of any other individual more deserving of this honor
and am particularly pleased that this comes on the 60 th anniversary of his graduation from
the Academy.”
Freebern resides in Del Mar.
Founded in 1910, the Army and Navy Academy is a private not-for-profit institution that
provides an academically robust, character-based education for 7 th- through 12th-grade
young men. It is the only private boarding school in San Diego County and the only
military academy for high school-age students west of New Mexico. | 
