WW II veteran discovers possible connection with Charlotte Tuskegee Airman
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — The funeral arraignments for Second Lt. Fred Brewer Jr., a Charlotte native Tuskegee airman whose remains went unidentified for close to 80 years, have been scheduled for December 6.
Brewer, 23, vanished during a mission on October 29, 1944, during World War II over Germany.
It was later learned that his plane went into a tailspin as he tried to climb out of a thick patch of fog.
While his remains were discovered and buried in a soldier’s grave in Florence, Italy, they had never been identified until early this year.
Brewer’s last few remaining family members were notified early this year that the remains were his and that he could finally come home.
In September, after the news broke, Brewer’s family member Brenda told Queen City News, “This has been my life’s mission,” she explained. “He is no longer X-125, who came up out [of] that grave in Florence, Italy. He is Fred Brewer, Second Lieutenant.”
The news of this discovery would stretch far beyond the city limits of Charlotte and into the halls of a retirement community in Statesville, some 40 miles away.
“We were two fellows doing our jobs, helping each other,” explained World War II veteran Andrew Pendleton. “But we never met.”
Pendleton was a member of the 451st Bombardier Group, which conducted operations on key targets in Germany during the war.
While Pendleton admits his mind is not what it was, he said he would never forget the sites of the Red Tail airmen who kept them safe in the skies.
He explained, “They would fly next to us, to keep the German plans for attacking us.”
Pendleton said he never personally knew Lt. Brewer and can’t say if he ever flew any missions with his Tuskegee Airman group.
However, the answer to his memory might be found in his extensive catalog of photos and mission logs from his time overseas.
A friend of Pendleton, Laura Stotts, contacted Queen City News shortly after our interview with Brenda Brewer and said she made a potential discovery about a connection in the documents Mr. Pendleton kept after the war.
“I just thought, ‘holy cow,’ what are the odds!” she explained.
Stotts has dedicated the past several years to the service of veterans and those who served the country.
Its work, she said, has been central to her identity and close to her heart after the loss of a loved one after they returned home from service.
“They’re going and serving our country regardless of what president is in office . . . they’re signing up to protect you and me,” she said.
Stotts has helped preserve books worth of details from Mr. Pendleton’s time in the service.
As the news spread of the discovery of Lt. Brewer’s remains and the details of his last mission, Stotts began to explore a hunch she had.
In the mission logs kept by Mr. Pendleton, she discovered he worked on a mission on the exact same day Lt. Brewer crashed, in the exact same region, and at the exact same target, an oil refinery in Germany, on October 29, 1993.
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She said, “While there is nothing definitely saying he was here and he was here, it’s very likely that they were both in the skies on the same mission and the same time.”
Since then, she has posted multiple updates of Mr. Pendleton as he remembered moments from that time and details of how instrumental the Red Tails were in their success.
Mr. Pendleton said, while he did not know Lt. Brewer, he wanted to send his condolences to his family.
“He helped return my life and make me come home intact. I’m sorry he didn’t make it back. I will be eternally grateful for his life and his actions.”
Mr. Pendleton and Laura plan to attend the December 6 funeral service for Lt. Brewer in Salisbury at the Salisbury National Cemetery.
“I want him to get all of the respect and honor,” Mr. Pendleton said of the decision to attend.
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