Fry enlisted in the Marine Corps from Philadelphia in September 1862 and was assigned to the Union sloop-of-war United States Ship (1862). On January 15, 1865, the North Carolina Confederate stronghold of Fort Fisher was taken by a combined Union storming party of sailors, marines, and soldiers under the command of Admiral David Dixon Porter and General Alfred Terry. He was honorably discharged in September 1866.
He received the Medal of Honor for his actions during the Second Battle of Fort Fisher on January 15, 1865. “The President of the United States of America, in the name of Congress, takes pleasure in presenting the Medal of Honor to Orderly Sergeant Isaac N. Fry, United States Marine Corps, for extraordinary heroism in action on board the United States.S. TICONDEROGA during attacks on Fort Fisher, 13 to 15 January 1865.
Sergeant Fry was a member of the storming party.
