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Those Who Died That Others Might Be Free

 

World War II Hero of the Minor Leagues 

 

Forrest "Lefty" Brewer

Date and Place of Birth: December 9, 1918 Sequatchie, Tennessee
Date and Place of Death: June 6, 1944 Normandy, France
Baseball Experience: Minor League
Position: Pitcher
Rank: Private
Military Unit: HQ 1st Company, 508th PIR, 82nd Airborne Division
Area Served: European Theater of Operations

Francis Field, home of the Florida State League's St Augustine Saints, was a magical place during the summer of 1938. With the smell of roasted peanuts filling the air, a tall, slender 19-year-old unleashed a season of blistering fastballs on his way to a 25-win rookie season. Six years later the fun-loving southpaw with everything to live for was dead.

In the spring of 1938, certain that his future was in baseball, Brewer traveled to St Augustine in search of a professional tryout. The Saints' general manager, Fred Hering, needed just one look at the youngster's overpowering fastball and hard-breaking curve before offering him a contract with the independently owned Class D team. Brewer made 41 appearances for the Saints in his debut season, leading the league with 25 wins and 234 strike outs, and on June 6th, he hurled a no-hitter against Orlando. Peter Schaal proclaimed Brewer "the greatest young prospect to come out of the Florida State League." ¹

News of Brewer's heroics spread fast and Clark Griffith, owner of the Washington Senators, purchased his contract and invited him to the capital city for the final weeks of the 1938 season.

The following year he was with the Senators for spring training but was released to Shelby, North Carolina of the Tar Heel League in March 1939. His sophomore year was plagued with arm problems. Five wins in 19 appearances and an inflated ERA of 5.25 precipitated a return to the Florida State League in July. With the Senators' franchise at Orlando he recorded 7 wins, 11 losses and a 3.85 ERA.

 

 

 

In 1940, Brewer was assigned to Charlotte, North Carolina in the Class B Piedmont League. As Hitler's blitzkrieg swept through Europe at an alarming rate, Brewer turned in a steady performance with the Hornets. On a team that lacked offence and finished fifth, he won 11 games against 9 losses, including a four-hitter against Rocky Mount in July and a two-hitter over Norfolk the following month. It was enough for Clark Griffith to offer him a job for the coming season at $200 a month. The contract with the Washington Senators was never signed.

Early in 1941, as the United States strengthened its military force, Brewer received his military draft notice. At the age of 22 and on the verge of a major league career, he swapped flannels for service fatigues and reported for basic training. Brewer and the military seemed well matched. Following basic training he volunteered for the paratroopers - attended Parachute Jump School at Fort Benning and was assigned to the 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment (PIR), 82nd Airborne Division, at Camp Blanding in Florida and then Camp Mackall in North Carolina. It was during this time that Brewer had an opportunity to limber up his pitching arm. The ball team at Camp Mackall was strong. The line-up was dotted with semi-pro players, and Brewer shared pitching duties with Okey Mills, a colliery league pitcher from West Virginia. The 508th Red Devils played all through the long, hot summer during off-duty hours, they clinched the Camp Mackall championship with a 26-4 won-loss record, and one of their few losses was at the hands of an all-star team put together by Babe Ruth. In a letter to his mother, Brewer revealed his plans for the future. He was optimistic and with good reason. "When the war is over," he wrote, "I'm really going to town. My arm is in better shape than it's ever been and yesterday I pitched a one-hitter." ²

 

In November 1943, Brewer was preparing to be posted overseas and made one last visit to his wife and family in Jacksonville. Judith Frierson Hunter, Brewer's niece, was eight years old at the time and remembers her uncle's last visit home. "The whole family was together," she recalls. "I was in awe of everything military and Lefty gave me his paratrooper's wings to 'keep for him.' How proud I was of my handsome uncle who was going to be a big-league baseball star after the war." ³

 

508th PIR Red Devils. Camp Mackall champions in 1943. Brewer is back row, fourth left.

 

In March 1944, as part of the invasion build-up the 508th PIR was posted overseas. They were based in Nottingham, England, where Brewer had the chance to play one last ball game before going into combat. On Sunday, May 28, 1944, an enthusiastic crowd of 7,000 fans gathered at Meadow Lane soccer ground to see the 508th Red Devils play an exhibition game against the locally based 505th PIR Panthers. Okey Mills started the game and was relieved by Brewer in the fourth inning. "Lefty had one of the best pick-off moves I've ever seen," says Mills. "He picked off the first two men that got on base - just left 'em high and dry." The Red Devils outclassed the Panthers, 18-0. ⁴

Eight days later, as night fell on June 5th, Brewer and the men of the 508th - faces blackened and hearts racing - boarded transport planes for the flight across the English Channel. That night over France, 24,000 Allied paratroopers ascended through the darkness into chaos and confusion. Inexperienced pilots failed to locate designated drop zones and whole regiments landed miles from intended locations.
 

 

Brewer was with a small group of paratroopers who were attacked by an overwhelming force of German troops shortly after landing at La Fiere near Ste Mere Eglise. Trapped in a hail of bullets and explosions, Brewer ran for his life towards the nearby Merderet River. Bill Dean, who had known Brewer since Camp Blanding days, was running as hard as anyone. "I was aware someone was running just behind me," he recalls. "In my panic I took a quick look and saw Lefty, at port arms, running like he was going the stretch a double into a triple!" ⁵

A split second later there was a burst of machine gun fire. Exactly six years after pitching a no-hitter with the Saints, Brewer’s life ended.

He was reported missing in action following D-Day and for four agonizing months, his family held on to a glimmer of hope that he could still be alive. But in October the War Department confirmed his death. He was buried along with five other members of the 508th ball team at the American Cemetery in Ste Mere Eglise – Rene Croteau, John Judefind, Joseph Laky, William Maloney and Elmer Mertz.

That month, his younger sister, Katherine, sent news of his death to Clark Griffith. "I want you and your entire family to know that I mourn along with you at the loss of this fine boy," wrote Griffith in his reply. "Forrest was such a fine upstanding young man and Calvin [Griffith, Vice President of Senators] and myself and all connected with the Washington club dearly loved him." ⁶
 

 

In 1947, his body was returned home to Jacksonville, Florida. The flag-draped coffin was carried passed the ball field where he learned to pitch and was finally laid to rest in the Riverside Memorial Park. In November 1988, Brewer was inducted in the Jacksonville Sports Hall of Fame for his "outstanding athletic achievements." ⁷ To most sports fans, Lefty Brewer's name remains as unfamiliar as his career remains incomplete - another bush leaguer who failed to make it the "The Show." But his ultimate sacrifice in the line of duty should not be forgotten, and thanks to baseball's unique statistical documentation, the brief career of this American hero will always remain an integral part of the national pastime.

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Notes

1 Official Baseball Record Book 1939
2 V-Mail from Brewer
3 Correspondence, Judith Frierson Hunter
4 Correspondence, Okey Mills
5 Correspondence, Bill Dean
6 Letter from Clark Griffith
7 Jacksonville Sports Hall of Fame

 

Thanks to Lefty's brother, Bill Brewer, for all his help and support with this project.

 

Added August 13, 2006. Updated July 16, 2007.

Copyright © 2007 Gary Bedingfield (Baseball in Wartime). All Rights Reserved.