The Writing 69th: Home Page

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The Writing 69th Home Page

Using The Writing 69th Home Page

If this is your first visit to The Writing 69th Home Page, you should start with The Story of The Writing 69th, which will guide you through some key aspects of the story. For those interested in more detail there are selected chapters from the book, The Writing 69th, at Green Harbor Publications.

If you have visited this page before, have a look at the new site map to see everything that is included here.

If you are a teaching professional, you will want to check out the special offer for schools.

If you like this site, you might also enjoy The Free Fall Research Page, which is dedicated to recording the stories of a select group of people have survived a fall of thousands of feet without a working parachute.

The Book

Scott Brewer's Dog Tag Is Found in Germany

January 2008: Scott Brewer, a gunner on the B-24 carrying New York Times reporter Robert Post, died on February 26, 1943 along with Post and other crew members. Brewer's dog tag, which lay in a field for nearly 65 years, was recently found by Tomas Hauschild, a German from nearby Borbeck. Hauschild has an unusual profession. He works for an explosive ordnance disposal unit that is called in when unexploded World War II munitions are found. The area around Bad Zwischenahn was heavily bombed during World War II because of a nearby airfield. Hauschild found the dog tag with a metal detector on January 18, 2008, not far from the farm where the aircraft's wreckage came down. Hauschild contacted Green Harbor Publications hoping that we could help him return the dog tag to one of Brewer's relatives, none of whom had been located at that point.

Green Harbor Publications contacted Tim Woodward, who writes for the Idaho Statesman (Brewer's home town was Boise). Woodward wrote two marvelous columns on the topic:
Did you know Scott Everhart Brewer?
Scott Everhart Brewer's mystery is solved

As a result of Woodward's articles, a number of family members have been located! Sometime in 2008 the family will receive the long-lost dog tag.

In reviewing Brewer's war record for details on his family, a sad fact came out. Brewer's father, Paul B. Brewer, died on March 6, 1943, two days before Brewer's mother, Louise E. Brewer, received the telegram informing her that her son Scott was missing in action. One other tantalizing fact is that Brewer, though his dog tag was missing, was identified by a yellow link metal bracelet with his name, address, and home town. The bracelet was also inscribed with the name "Mary." Brewer's mother received a letter from the army offering to send her the bracelet, but warning her that it was damaged by fire, and saying that they did not want to send her something that might be distressing to her. She thanked them for their offer but decided she would rather not have it sent to her. Brewer's surviving relatives have a few theories about who this Mary might be (perhaps it was his grandmother, his aunt, or a girlfriend) but no one is certain.

William Wade, member of the Writing 69th, dead at 87

March 2006: William Wade died of a heart attack on March 24, 2006 in Oakland, California. He was 87. Wade was a journalist, war correspondent, and member of the Writing 69th. Here is the link to his obituary in the San Francisco Chronicle. I will always be grateful to Bill Wade for his thoughtful responses to my letters and for the photographs he shared when I was writing the book. He told me that when Homer Bigart died the Writing 69th group photo was reproduced along with the obituary. Friends in New York and California had seen the picture and called him to say so. I'm sure that many people today are having fond memories of Bill Wade. Wade's death leaves only two living members of the Writing 69th: Walter Cronkite and Andy Rooney.

Remembering Tex McCrary

August 2003: Tex McCrary died on July 29, 2003 at the age of 92. Tex was an 8th Air Force public relations officer (PRO) at the time that the Writing 69th was formed. I contacted Tex while researching "The Writing 69th" and had a memorable phone call with him one day more than five years ago. Reading his obituary I was reminded of something he told me during that call. In 1944 McCrary co-wrote a book called "The First of the Many" about his experiences as one of the early members of the 8th Air Force in England. When I talked to him that day, he joked that if he ever wrote his memoirs, he would call it "The Last of the Few." His good-humored comment is a sobering reminder of how many of our World War II veterans are dying every day.