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Personal info

Full name
BREWER, Hugh Hershell Jr
Date of birth
1 January 1921
Age
23
Place of birth
Chattanooga, Hamilton County, Tennessee
Hometown
Richard City, Marion County, Tennessee

Military service

Service number
34493730
Rank
Staff Sergeant
Function
Engineer/Gunner
Unit
763rd Bombardment Squadron,
460th Bombardment Group, Heavy
Awards
Purple Heart,
Air Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster

Death

Status
Killed in Action
Date of death
16 October 1944
Place of death
Deutsch-Wagram, Austria

Grave

Cemetery
American War Cemetery Lorraine
Plot Row Grave
A 13 40

Immediate family

Members
Hugh H. Brewer (father)
Nellie P. (Levan) Brewer (mother)
Evelyn Brewer (sister)
William H. Brewer (brother)
Kenneth C. Brewer (brother)

Plane data

Serial number
42-99798
Data
Type: B-24J
Nickname: Ashean Charley
Destination: Graz, Austria
Mission: Bombing of the marshalling yards
MACR: 9303

More information

S/Sgt Hugh H. Brewer Jr. enlisted at Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia on 17 November 1942.

1st Lt Walter C. Martin Jr.:

I was flying number five position of the lead box of the third attack unit when we went over the target at Graz, Austria. Lt Berry was flying #42-99798 in number seven position. Over the target the flak was intense and accurate. Just after the bombs were away, Lt Berry’s plane evidently suffered a direct hit as it exploded. I saw only the actual explosion as it was almost instantly out of my line of vision. My left waist gunner reported that the plane had disintegrated.

S/Sgt Roy F. Kragel:

He was in top turret when plane exploded and I deem it impossible for him to have escaped the explosion.

Source of information: Peter Schouteten, www.abmc.gov, www.wwiimemorial.com, www.archives.gov – WWII Enlistment Record, www.ancestry.com - Headstone and Interment Record / McDonald Family Tree, www.fold3.com, http://aircrewremembered.com/USAAFCombatOperations/Oct.44.html
Photo source: www.findagrave.com - njmblejacks / Astrid