[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 201 (Wednesday, December 6, 2023)]
[House]
[Pages H6148-H6149]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          CELEBRATING HOMEGOING OF LIEUTENANT FRED BREWER, JR.

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
North Carolina (Ms. Adams) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. ADAMS. Mr. Speaker, there are more than 80,000 American military 
personnel who remain unaccounted for from previous conflicts around the 
world. Their families, nonprofit organizations, and the Defense POW/MIA 
Accounting Agency continue to fight tirelessly every day to bring these 
patriots home and to give them the dignified memorials they deserve.
  Mr. Speaker, I rise today to celebrate the homecoming of one of these 
fallen heroes, Second Lieutenant Fred Lorenzo Brewer, Jr., who after 
nearly 80 years has returned home to Charlotte, North Carolina.
  Born on August 4, 1921, Lieutenant Brewer was raised in Charlotte's 
historic Brooklyn neighborhood where his family attended the historic 
Ebenezer Baptist Church.
  After graduating from Shaw University in Raleigh, the segregated 
South's first Black college, Lieutenant Brewer was commissioned by the 
United States Air Force and entered the uniformed service in November 
of 1942.
  He was soon stationed at Tuskegee Army Airfield in Alabama, and he 
joined the 100th Fighter Squadron, 332nd Fighter Group. Completely 
segregated from their White peers, he was one of the nearly 1,000 Black 
pilots trained at Tuskegee who would eventually become known around the 
world as the Tuskegee Airmen.
  Known for their extreme bravery and distinctive red-tail planes, the 
Tuskegee Airmen fought tirelessly to defend democracy abroad and to 
combat racism at home.
  On October 29, 1944, Lieutenant Brewer's plane, named Trav'lin' 
Light, after the Billie Holiday song, went missing while on a mission 
out of Ramitelli Airbase in Italy.
  That day, like so many other young Black men in his elite group, 
Lieutenant Brewer gave the ultimate sacrifice for a country that did 
not yet see him as an equal citizen. In serving and in giving his life, 
Lieutenant Brewer showed extraordinary faith in his country and in 
democracy that while imperfect in its protection and promotion of his 
life and livelihood, it could still be worthy of his ultimate 
sacrifice.
  While Lieutenant Brewer did not live to see it, generations of 
survivors vindicated his sacrifice during the civil rights era, 
bringing our Nation closer to the dream of every man and every woman 
being created equal. That is the promise of democracy, Mr. Speaker. 
That is the promise for which he gave his life.

                              {time}  1015

  He was only 23 years old, and he left behind his parents, Fred, Sr., 
and Janie Brewer, and a younger sister, Gladys.
  Thanks to the unyielding advocacy of his surviving cousins, Robena 
Brewer Harrison and Brenda L. Brewer, and the determined work of the 
POW/MIA Accounting Agency, Lieutenant Brewer's remains were identified 
in August.

[[Page H6149]]

  Last Thursday, exactly 79 years and 1 month since his death, 
Lieutenant Brewer returned to Charlotte, receiving a dignified 
transfer. The U.S. flag was flown in his honor last Thursday at the 
U.S. Capitol at the request of my office.
  Today, he will finally be laid to rest at Salisbury National Cemetery 
with full military honors.
  While we celebrate today, we must never forget the countless 
Americans, including 25 Tuskegee Airmen, who remain unaccounted for and 
the families that long to bring their beloved heroes home, and we must 
never stop perfecting the cause for which they sacrificed.
  We welcome Lieutenant Brewer home. We are forever indebted to his 
service.

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