September 7th 2023.
After almost 80 years, the family of 2nd Lt. Fred L. Brewer, an esteemed member of the historic Tuskegee Airmen, has finally been able to find closure. The Pentagon and the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency identified his remains on August 10, 2023.
Brewer was piloting one of 57 fighter planes—a single-seat P-51C Mustang nicknamed “Traveling Light”–on a mission to Regensburg, Germany, on October 29, 1944. Unfortunately, he failed to return with the 47 planes that managed to make it back after running into heavy cloud cover in southern Italy. Reportedly, Brewer attempted to climb over the clouds, but stalled out and fell into a spin.
His remains were found in a civilian cemetery close to the area after the war, but technology wasn’t advanced enough to assist with identification during that time. The case was examined in 2011, and researchers found an Italian police report showing the remains were recovered from a fighter plane that crashed on the same day as Brewer’s disappearance.
The news of his disappearance had a devastating effect on his family, especially his mother, Janie. She never recovered from the loss, and eventually passed away from a stroke at the age of 49. His cousin, Robena Brewer Harrison, remembers how devastating it was for her aunt to receive the news.
Brewer was a native of Charlotte, North Carolina, and a graduate of Shaw University, an HBCU. His other cousin, Brenda L. Brewer, has expressed her hope that the family can heal now that his remains have been returned home. She’s happy to have finally completed her lifelong mission of bringing the pilot home.
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