North Carolina
Pentagon identifies remains of North Carolina Tuskegee Airman after 79 years
The US Military has identified the remains of a Tuskegee Airman from North Carolina 79 years after his plane disappeared in Germany during World War II.
The airman, 2nd Lt. Fred L. Brewer Jr., was a pilot with the 100th Fighter Squadron, 332nd Fighter Group, in the European Theater of World War II. He was from Charlotte and graduated from Shaw University in Raleigh.
He was flying a P-51C Mustang, nicknamed “Traveling Light,” in October 1944.
He was escorting bombers to Germany when bad weather caused the engine of his plane to stall.
Lieutenant Brewer’s plane crashed and he was declared missing in action.
In July of this year, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) exhumed a set of unidentified remains.
New lab tests last month positively identified those remains as Brewer’s.
He will be buried with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery.