1st Lt. Howard Carey Brewster, 0-670206 KIA
1st Lt. Howard Carey Brewster, O-670206 KIA US Army Killed In Action. He was born on April 13, 1918, in Louisiana, the son of George Washington Brewster and Minnie Lee Farley Brewster. Howard graduated from Ruston High School in the class of 1937. After high school he attended Louisiana Polytechnic Institute. In 1940 he attended Parks Air College of Saint Louis University. Howard married Katie “Kate” Eileen Donnell on February 6, 1943, in Warrensburg, Missouri. They had one child during their marriage. Howard entered the Louisiana National Guard in 1941. He served in the Ruston Battery F 204th C.A. AA Regiment. In 1942, he transferred to the Army Air Force. In November 1942 he was Commissioned 2Lt in the Glider Corp at Dalhart Army Air Field. On December 20, 1942 Howard Graduated Advanced Glider Training Class 42-26 at SPAAF Lubbock, Texas. He also served in Illinois, Kentucky, North Carolina, Missouri and Indiana. He served in ETO Station at 469 RAF at Ramsbury some 65 miles West of London. The village of Ramsbury was home to the 84th Troop Carrier Squadron, 437th Troop Carrier Group.
1LT Brewster’s last assignment was at Ramsbury, England Air Base where he was in the first planes and gliders to take off on D-Day. He was the lead pilot with a jeep and anti-tank gun loaded. He died from crash landing but his passengers survived. An intelligence interrogation of the pilot of the tow plane behind which Lt Brewster was flying reveals that the glider was released or shot off about 16 miles from the landing zone. This meant that the glider landed in enemy territory with few, if any, friendly troops in the vicinity. 1LT Brewster is buried now in the Normandy American Cemetery, Colleville-sur-Mer, France. He also has a cenotaph located in New Hope Cemetery, Lincoln Parish, Louisiana. He was awarded Air Medal, Pres. Citation and Purple Heart. He was Killed in Action in the invasion of Normandy, June 6, 1944.
The Men and women of Lincoln Parish county Louisiana
www.americanairmuseum.com, www.abmc.gov
