Tuskegee Airman from North Carolina identified as unknown soldier 79 years

[Guno צְבִי]

Brewer went missing while piloting one of 57 fighter planes escorting bombers on a mission to Regensburg, Germany, on Oct. 29, 1944. The airplanes ran into heavy cloud cover in southern Italy, forcing 47 of the fighters to return to base.

Brewer was not among those who returned. He had reportedly been attempting to climb his airplane out of the cloud cover when he stalled and fell into a spin.

Remains were recovered after the war in a civilian cemetery in the area, but technology at the time was unable to identify the remains. So they were interred as an unknown.


https://abc11.com/tuskegee-airman-unknown-soldier-ww2-remains-identified/13733258/

 

[signalmankenneth]

Brewer went missing while piloting one of 57 fighter planes escorting bombers on a mission to Regensburg, Germany, on Oct. 29, 1944. The airplanes ran into heavy cloud cover in southern Italy, forcing 47 of the fighters to return to base.

Brewer was not among those who returned. He had reportedly been attempting to climb his airplane out of the cloud cover when he stalled and fell into a spin.

Remains were recovered after the war in a civilian cemetery in the area, but technology at the time was unable to identify the remains. So they were interred as an unknown.


https://abc11.com/tuskegee-airman-unknown-soldier-ww2-remains-identified/13733258/

On Eternal Patrol In the Sky

 

[Commander Dutch]

Brewer went missing while piloting one of 57 fighter planes escorting bombers on a mission to Regensburg, Germany, on Oct. 29, 1944. The airplanes ran into heavy cloud cover in southern Italy, forcing 47 of the fighters to return to base.

Brewer was not among those who returned. He had reportedly been attempting to climb his airplane out of the cloud cover when he stalled and fell into a spin.

Remains were recovered after the war in a civilian cemetery in the area, but technology at the time was unable to identify the remains. So they were interred as an unknown.


https://abc11.com/tuskegee-airman-unknown-soldier-ww2-remains-identified/13733258/

It's good that science, specifically DNA, is helping identify unknown military casualties.

Although their training was in Tuskegee, AL, the Birmingham Airport has a nice display in the Terminal B rotunda, an eating area. It has two large (10' wingspan?) models of Red Tail P-51s hanging over it and some display cases.

https://www.flybirmingham.com/art-at-bhm/

 

[Commander Dutch]

I've flown over the original site back in the early 90s. All I could see was a single small strip and the foundations of 3-4 buildings. It's now known as Sharpe Field.

https://cafriseabove.org/the-tuskegee-airmen/tuskegee-airmen-history/the-airfields/
At present day, only one runway at the original site of the Tuskegee Army Air Field is listed as active, but is held under private ownership. The original facilities are in ruins.

 

[Commander Dutch]

Looking over the history, there were a few airfields. I'm not sure which one I flew over but I know it wasn't Moton or any other established field. This was clearly abandoned so it may or may not have been Sharpe Field back in the 90s. Google Earth doesn't help because it's been over 25 years.

 

[T. A. Gardner]

It's great that his remains were identified and returned.

What I don't get is why this unit gets such praise when it was nothing special whatsoever.

 

[Commander Dutch]

It's great that his remains were identified and returned.

What I don't get is why this unit gets such praise when it was nothing special whatsoever.

How does the 99th Fighter Squadron and/or 332nd Fighter Group compare to other squadrons?

 

[T. A. Gardner]

How does the 99th Fighter Squadron and/or 332nd Fighter Group compare to other squadrons?

On the whole, they were average. They flew the same sort of mission profiles that other fighter groups flew, scored aerial victories that were typical for most groups. They certainly weren't the "best" in the MTO where they served. Probably the top MTO fighter group was the 31st, with 570 kills. The 332nd got 110 putting them 10th out of 15 fighter groups serving in the MTO.

The two lowest scoring in the Med were the 81st and 85th FG who had the bad luck to be saddled with P-39's for most of their operational history.

 

[Commander Dutch]

On the whole, they were average. They flew the same sort of mission profiles that other fighter groups flew, scored aerial victories that were typical for most groups. They certainly weren't the "best" in the MTO where they served. Probably the top MTO fighter group was the 31st, with 570 kills. The 332nd got 110 putting them 10th out of 15 fighter groups serving in the MTO.

Link or just your opinion?

Do you agree that the number of kills is related to both the time the unit was in combat as well as their efficiency?

 

[T. A. Gardner]

Link or just your opinion?

Do you agree that the number of kills is related to both the time the unit was in combat as well as their efficiency?

The book USAAF Fighter Units MTO 1942 - 45. by Christopher Shores

The number of kills has more to do with what aircraft the unit was equipped with and what their mission profiles looked like. The 31st was a premier unit with top notch pilots and flew first Spitfire V and IX then P-51's. The 325th FG, likewise had a similar profile to the 31st and also scored over 500 kills. Those two groups were the top scorers. The next about 8 groups all had similar scores accounting for how long they were in action (~400 to 100), all flying mostly P-40's for much of their time in the Med. Only starting in 1944 did these groups begin to transition to P-47 or P-51's. A few squadrons used the P-38 but that plane was a comparative rarity in the Med.

Units saddled with P-40's, or worse P-39's, didn't do as well. On the whole, the 332nd was no better or worse than any other group. They were typical, average, not some elite outstanding unit. The P-39 units suffered the worst because they lacked the ability to fight at altitudes above 15,000 feet, had planes that were very short-ranged, and that left them often doing CAS with frontline ground units rather than flying missions where they mixed it up with enemy fighters. Often, they had top cover from other fighter groups flying P-40's that got to engage the enemy if they showed up.

The 332nd was average. Nothing special.

 

[Commander Dutch]

The book USAAF Fighter Units MTO 1942 - 45. by Christopher Shores

The number of kills has more to do with what aircraft the unit was equipped with and what their mission profiles looked like. The 31st was a premier unit with top notch pilots and flew first Spitfire V and IX then P-51's. The 325th FG, likewise had a similar profile to the 31st and also scored over 500 kills. Those two groups were the top scorers. The next about 8 groups all had similar scores accounting for how long they were in action (~400 to 100), all flying mostly P-40's for much of their time in the Med. Only starting in 1944 did these groups begin to transition to P-47 or P-51's. A few squadrons used the P-38 but that plane was a comparative rarity in the Med.

Units saddled with P-40's, or worse P-39's, didn't do as well. On the whole, the 332nd was no better or worse than any other group. They were typical, average, not some elite outstanding unit. The P-39 units suffered the worst because they lacked the ability to fight at altitudes above 15,000 feet, had planes that were very short-ranged, and that left them often doing CAS with frontline ground units rather than flying missions where they mixed it up with enemy fighters. Often, they had top cover from other fighter groups flying P-40's that got to engage the enemy if they showed up.

The 332nd was average. Nothing special.

Average overall, but it still sounds a little apples and oranges without being able to analyze the actual numbers, dates, personnel, etc. A group with a 500 pilots is going to have more kills than a group with 300 pilots even if all the pilots average the same number of kills.

The gun banners love to use "gun violence" to bump up their number or total deaths but they are comparing a nation of 330M to a nation of 30M.

 

[signalmankenneth]

The book USAAF Fighter Units MTO 1942 - 45. by Christopher Shores

The number of kills has more to do with what aircraft the unit was equipped with and what their mission profiles looked like. The 31st was a premier unit with top notch pilots and flew first Spitfire V and IX then P-51's. The 325th FG, likewise had a similar profile to the 31st and also scored over 500 kills. Those two groups were the top scorers. The next about 8 groups all had similar scores accounting for how long they were in action (~400 to 100), all flying mostly P-40's for much of their time in the Med. Only starting in 1944 did these groups begin to transition to P-47 or P-51's. A few squadrons used the P-38 but that plane was a comparative rarity in the Med.

Units saddled with P-40's, or worse P-39's, didn't do as well. On the whole, the 332nd was no better or worse than any other group. They were typical, average, not some elite outstanding unit. The P-39 units suffered the worst because they lacked the ability to fight at altitudes above 15,000 feet, had planes that were very short-ranged, and that left them often doing CAS with frontline ground units rather than flying missions where they mixed it up with enemy fighters. Often, they had top cover from other fighter groups flying P-40's that got to engage the enemy if they showed up.

The 332nd was average. Nothing special.

The P-51 was one of the best fighters ever flown at the time when the 332nd Fighter Group began to develop a reputation with its escorted bomber groups. Bomber groups knew that if they were escorted by the Red-tailed Mustangs they stood a greater chance of returning home from their missions.

Pilots of the 332d Fighter Group, "Tuskegee Airmen," the elite, all-African American 332d Fighter Group at Ramitelli Airfield, Italy. From left to right, Lt. Dempsey W. Morgran, Lt. Carroll S. Woods, Lt. Robert H. Nelron, Jr., Capt. Andrew D. Turner, and Lt. Clarence P. Lester.

 

[Geeko Sportivo]

The book USAAF Fighter Units MTO 1942 - 45. by Christopher Shores

The number of kills has more to do with what aircraft the unit was equipped with and what their mission profiles looked like. The 31st was a premier unit with top notch pilots and flew first Spitfire V and IX then P-51's. The 325th FG, likewise had a similar profile to the 31st and also scored over 500 kills. Those two groups were the top scorers. The next about 8 groups all had similar scores accounting for how long they were in action (~400 to 100), all flying mostly P-40's for much of their time in the Med. Only starting in 1944 did these groups begin to transition to P-47 or P-51's. A few squadrons used the P-38 but that plane was a comparative rarity in the Med.

Units saddled with P-40's, or worse P-39's, didn't do as well. On the whole, the 332nd was no better or worse than any other group. They were typical, average, not some elite outstanding unit. The P-39 units suffered the worst because they lacked the ability to fight at altitudes above 15,000 feet, had planes that were very short-ranged, and that left them often doing CAS with frontline ground units rather than flying missions where they mixed it up with enemy fighters. Often, they had top cover from other fighter groups flying P-40's that got to engage the enemy if they showed up.

The 332nd was average. Nothing special.

I think the Navy Pilots at Midway were one of the bravest and most successful flying units in American history.

They pretty much sunk a Navy that was superior to ours at the time!

Dive bombing takes a lot of guts and is like playing Russian Roulette with 5 bullets!

 

[T. A. Gardner]

Average overall, but it still sounds a little apples and oranges without being able to analyze the actual numbers, dates, personnel, etc. A group with a 500 pilots is going to have more kills than a group with 300 pilots even if all the pilots average the same number of kills.

The gun banners love to use "gun violence" to bump up their number or total deaths but they are comparing a nation of 330M to a nation of 30M.

All USAAF fighter groups were on the same TO&E and had the same number of pilots assigned. They would normally have three squadrons of aircraft, with each (for fighters) having 12 to 16 depending on the date and TO&E in use) assigned for a total of 36 to 48 planes. Of those, typically something like 24 to 30 something would be available for a mission with some down for maintenance and some losses not having been made good.

The 31st had the advantage that it got Spitfires and good pilots who were often pre-war USAAC ones with high hours flying time. That gave them a fighter that could dominate Italian and German aircraft flown by pilots who were exceptionally skilled. The 1st FG was another flying P-38's. They got more long-range bomber escort missions and had greater opportunity to engage enemy aircraft.
The P-40 groups (and the 332nd started out in P-40's), had the problem that their planes were no better than those of the enemies they faced, and often at a disadvantage. Altitude wasn't the issue usually as most of these groups got P-40F or L models that were fitted with the Packard Merlin engine not the altitude restricted Allison V-1710. They could fly longer range missions than the P-39 groups so they had more chance to be in action.
Groups like the 57th FG had the advantage of being some of the first USAAF units to go into actual combat in Europe / the Med. These were flown across Africa and fought with the RAF's Desert AF in Egypt, being in action even before El Alamein. They had more time to gain skills and rack up successes.

I'm not making light of the 332nd FG. It's simply an average unit that did its duty and carried out the missions assigned competently.

 

[T. A. Gardner]

I think the Navy Pilots at Midway were one of the bravest and most successful flying units in American history.

They pretty much sunk a Navy that was superior to ours at the time!

Dive bombing takes a lot of guts and is like playing Russian Roulette with 5 bullets!

The definitive read on USN aviation in the Pacific is:

Lundstrom also provides very detailed accounts of the IJNAF side of those actions. You find that the USN had a good set of ideas and tactics worked out from the start of the Pacific War and by Midway they'd worked out most of the bugs. The biggest thing, and Lundstrom only touches on it some, was the introduction of Carrier Controlled Intercept (CCI). This used radar and radio(s) aboard the carrier(s) with controllers giving the fighter pilots directions to intercept incoming strikes.
At Midway, the IJNAF ones that were sent--after 3 out of 4 of their carriers were sunk--were decimated using it. It was virtual suicide for the Japanese aircrews to fly against a US carrier group. That gets repeated in carrier battles after Midway. No air service could sustain 50 to 70% losses per mission and continue to operate for long, and that's what the Japanese faced.