World War II took so much from the world, that even today, nearly 80 years later, we are still putting together the pieces that were left behind.

From those that came home, and for those that didn’t, the war’s scars have been a reminder of the battle they all faced.

But for one group, the Tuskegee Airmen, it’s been especially difficult. They were the first African American flying unit in the U.S. military and of the men who served, 47 made it back home, while 27 remained missing. That is until recently.

In 2018, the remains of Capt. Lawrence E. Dickson of New York were found. Now, a second brave airman has finally been identified.

In the early-morning hours of Oct. 29, 1944, 2nd Lt. Fred L. Brewer Jr., 23, took part in an escort mission for bombers heading to Germany. He never made it back.

Armorer Sgt. Guy S. Mills and his crew chief install a 50-calibre machine gun on Brewer’s P-51C Mustang “Travelin Lite”.

Historian Craig Huntly recalled the words of the plane’s ground crew chief, James C. Atchison.

He told Huntly, “I strapped him in, buttoned up the canopy, rode his wing from the revetment out to the runway. We looked at each other. He gave me the okay sign with his fingers. I hopped off the wing and that was the last that I saw of” him.

A fellow pilot, Lt. Charles H. Duke recalled seeing Brewer pull up on the nose of his plane, ‘Trav’lin Light.’

Duke said he saw Brewer “stall out.”

I immediately lost sight of him in clouds,” Duke reported later, according to government records.

Brewer’s plane crashed across the border of Austria into Italy, which made identifying his remains more difficult.

The remains were buried by Italian officials in a civilian cemetery, the military said. Brewer was declared missing in action by the U.S. military.

In 2011, DPAA research analyst Josh Frank began studying crash sites in Italy.

“I started to go over every plane that crashed in Italy and kind of put it into a database,” he said. “Lt. Brewer’s case was not on my radar … because his recorded loss location … was in Austria.”

But a website that was maintained by Italian archaeologists made note of a metal crucifix, made out of parts of an airplane, had been made to honor fallen pilots in the town of Moggio Udinese.

“That was kind of my first hint that something had happened in Moggio Udinese,” Frank said. “What was it?”

Frank said that after some research they were able to match the Brewer’s downed plane with one that had crashed in Italy. They discovered a set of unidentified remains had been buried there.

In 2011, they were moved to the Florence American Cemetery, where they stayed until DPAA was able to analyze them with DNA from a family member. 

Last month, it was announced the remains had finally been identified.

“U.S. Army Air Forces 2nd Lt. Fred L. Brewer Jr., 23, of Charlotte, North Carolina, killed during World War II, was accounted for Aug. 10, 2023,” the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) said in a news release.

Brewer had lived in North Carolina and had graduated from college before heading into the military.

“I remember how devastating it was when they notified my family, my aunt and uncle, that he was missing,” said Robena Brewer Harrison, 84, of New York, a cousin.

It just left a void within our family. My aunt, who was his mother, Janie, she never, ever recovered from that.”

His mother died 5 years after her son went missing. “She died of a broken heart,” said another cousin, Brenda L. Brewer, 74.

“If there can be any healing in death, I hope she’s healing now.”

The DPAA continues its work to bring home the remaining soldiers missing from the Tuskegee Airmen.

Watch below to hear more from the brave soldier’s family.

Sources: Washington Post | People