Robert B. Brewer
Robert Burnham Brewer | |
|---|---|
506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division | |
| Battles/wars | World War II Vietnam War |
| Relations |
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Robert Burnham "Bob" Brewer (31 January 1924 – 5 December 1996)
Early life
Robert Burnham Brewer was born on 31 January 1924 in Fresno, California.[2]
Career
Brewer was a
Brewer was seriously wounded during Operation Market Garden while taking point with the platoon's scouts, as E Company was advancing into Eindhoven. He was a tall officer and stood out from the other men. Winters sent orders for him to pull back, but he was shot by a sniper before he heard the orders.[4]: 99 The round hit him in the throat below the jawline, knocking him down.[3]: 125 [5]: 132–134 Some of his men ran to his assistance but concluded he was too seriously wounded to survive, and left him to be cared for by the platoon medics. He and a medic who was shot while helping him were eventually helped by local people and evacuated to an aid station.[6]: 127 Brewer rejoined E Company at the end of the war after he had recovered.[3]: 125
Following his release from service at the end of the war, Brewer returned to California, married his high school sweetheart, Ruth Bradfield, and enrolled in pre-med courses at the University of California, Berkeley. At the end of his first year, he decided to accept an offer to rejoin the Army, this time as an officer with the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), forerunner to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).[7] During training with the CIA, he ran into Amos Taylor, who had joined the CIA after the war as well, and the two became close friends.[6]: 217 After training, he and his family moved to Tokyo, where he ran intelligence missions in Korea.[citation needed] After his stint in the Far East, he was reassigned to Fort Knox, Kentucky, and subsequently to Camp Peary, Virginia, where he trained soldiers in covert action.
In 1957, he was assigned to a two-year position at CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia, then to Pakistan and the Philippines. In 1966 he was appointed Senior Province Advisor in Quảng Trị Province, in the
Later life and death
In retirement, Brewer and his family moved to La Cañada, California, to enroll his son in a preparatory school run by an old friend. He taught courses at the school and worked with Explorer Scouts. After his son graduated and entered college, Brewer and his wife moved to Reno, Nevada, close to a family-owned property where he had spent enjoyable summers as a boy.
On 5 December 1996, Brewer died in California of lung cancer, leaving his wife Ruth, and five children, Mary Elizabeth, Robert Burnham, Nathan Hale, Virginia Ruth, and Wheaton Hale Brewer.[9]
References
- ^ "COL Robert Burnham Brewer (1924-1996) - Find A..." www.findagrave.com. Retrieved 27 May 2021.
- ^ "California Birth Index, 1905-1995," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VLNW-26W : 27 November 2014), Robert B Brewer, 31 Jan 1924; citing Fresno, California, United States, Department of Health Services, Vital Statistics Department, Sacramento.
- ^ a b c d Winters, Dick; Kingseed, Cole C. Beyond Band of Brothers: The War Memoirs of Major Dick Winters.
- ^ Alexander, Larry. Biggest Brother: The Life of Major Dick Winters, the Man Who Led the Band of Brothers.
- ISBN 978-0-89141-893-1. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
- ^ ISBN 978-0425234198.
- ISBN 978-0-7434-6411-6.
- ^ Villard, Erik. "The 1968 Tet Offensive Battles of Quang Tri City and Hue" (PDF). U.S. Army Center of Military History. U.S. Army Center of Military History. Retrieved 21 February 2017.
- ^ "United States Social Security Death Index," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:V3LW-W2K : 20 May 2014), Robert B Brewer, 05 Dec 1996; citing U.S. Social Security Administration, Death Master File, database (Alexandria, Virginia: National Technical Information Service, ongoing).